Of Mirrors and Mayhem
by Cerulean Apocalypse
Summary: After the Everafter War, the Grimms decide to wipe Basil's memory of magic, and raise him in the city. When he visits his sisters, though, he notices how strange everyone acts. What's really going on in his family?
1. Chapter 1

Authors' Note: _This is our first time writing for this category. Please leave us your thoughts and enjoy!_** This was my (Apocalypse) idea, but Cerulean is adding her ideas. **Disclaimer: We do not own the Sisters Grimm book series.

Of Mirrors and Mayhem

This Christmas, my mom and dad dragged me off to Ferryport Landing to see my sisters and brother-in-law. We do this every year. Every summer. Every Thanksgiving. Every Easter. As you can imagine, there are better things for a 14-year-old boy to do, especially when you live in New York City like I do.

My name's Basil Grimm, and right now it's Christmas Eve. And I have no idea why I have to come here every year. You'd think that Sabrina, Daphne, and Puck could come to the city, but they never do. It's like they have some kind of weird obligation to this town. Then again, they are weird people. My sister Sabrina is 24 and teaches a self-defense class. Her husband, Puck, is a dentist. From what I hear, he's a really good one, but he never uses anesthesia, so no, I think I'll stick to my regular dentist in the city. As for Daphne, she just graduated college and writes children's books.

Sabrina has anger issues. Sometimes she's okay, but Puck goes out of his way to piss her off. He glued a basketball to her head once. Dad hates him, and I just think he's weird. I mean, his name's _Puck. _ I once asked Sabrina why. She told me his name is actually Robin, and "Puck" is a nickname referring to his hockey obsession. So I asked him if he was Rangers or Islanders. His response was: "Well, I don't like all those nosy forest rangers in my woods, so I'll go with Islanders. They're so relaxed." Hockey fan? I think not.

Daphne is just plain crazy. Yeah, she's 21, just graduated college, and writes children's books, but she's nuts. She's trying to make up a new language. Sabrina told me she had been doing this since before I was born. Also, she collects weird jewelry and sticks. Once, I tried roasting a marshmallow on one of her sticks. Daphne walked in and asked me what I was doing. Once I stated the obvious, she freaked out and then passed out on the floor. Sabrina and my parents yelled at me, that I could have blown up the house. Can you even do that with a wooden stick and a gas powered stove? When Daphne finally came around, she muttered something about me roasting her on a magic wand. Again, she's weird.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they're all older than me, or maybe it has something to do with the 2 years they spent in foster homes. I don't know, but that's my family.

The reason I'm writing this down is so that one day, I can write a book to help other kids with weird families. For some reason, though, I think my family's especially weird. I know almost every teenager thinks that, but I'm serious. Daphne goes into a closet with nothing but a mirror in it, and stays there for a really, _really, __**REALLY **_long time. I hear her talking to someone named Harry. Then, there are my parents. They're actually pretty normal, except they disappeared for 2 years. Tell me that's not strange. Then, instead of sending my sisters to Granny Relda, who at the time was perfectly capable of taking care of them, they never told them that she existed. They also forgot to mention Dad's estranged brother, Uncle Jake. Evidently, he skipped town a long time ago, and no one's seen him since. We get letters from time to time, though, reassuring that he's still alive. Also, there's an old dude called Mr. Canis and a little girl called Red. Red is mentally unstable. Sometimes, she's a regular cute little kid, but she freaks out and runs out of the room at random moments. But that's why she has Mr. Canis, who, apart from the fact that he only has one eye, is the only normal one in the house. He told me he lost his eye in a war.

Puck says he has family in the city, but they're complete psychos. His ex-fiancée, Moth, killed his father, Oberon, and his mother, Titania, went nuts. Puck has a fairly normal brother named Mustardseed, who's around my age. He's a pretty cool guy, but his name's _Mustardseed. _Apparently, Puck and Mustardseed's parents were hippies.

Puck ran away from home. He claims he lived in the woods for a while, and then met my late grandmother, who occasionally fed him, and "gained his loyalty". Then, Puck met my sisters, and tried to push them off the edge of a diving board. He continued to torture them, giving them nicknames like 'Marshmallow' and 'Stinkpot'. Sabrina dubbed him 'Ugly Freak Baby'. Somewhere along the way, they fell in love. It's sickening. Apparently, they're madly in love or some crap like that.

Anyway, here's how Christmas vacation has gone so far: I arrived a few days ago and Daphne fell out of the closet where 'Harry' lives. The house was lit up to the point where you could see it from space. I actually think it's nice, but it's a little unnatural to see forty foot tall snowmen grinning at you. It scared the hell out of me when I was little.

"Basil!" exclaimed Daphne, running over and hugging me. "I haven't seen you since Thanksgiving! How've you been, little brother?"

"Okay, I guess. I, umm, dissected a frog," I said, edging out of her embrace.

"Gravy! Now come on, I've gotta show you something. Puck dyed Sabrina's hair red and green." Despite her craziness, she was actually fun sometimes. She led me into the kitchen, where Sabrina was sitting with four Great Dane puppies.

"Hey, Basil," greeted Sabrina. "Do you want some hot chocolate?"

"Uh, sure," I said, trying not to stare at her head, which was indeed red and green. "What happened to your hair?" Right away, she got one of those angry looks and spilled hot chocolate all over the floor. The hot chocolate was bright blue, which means that Daphne made it using Granny Relda's old recipe.

"This," she snarled, pointing to her hair, "Is what Puck calls Christmas spirit. Daphne says to him, 'The house is festive, but not Sabrina. We should give her a Christmas makeover!' So, the moron dyed my hair. Thanks a lot, Daphne," she snapped. Daphne shrugged cheerfully.

"Well, I think it does make you look festive. It's gravy!" Daphne skipped off to greet our parents. While she was doing that, Sabrina calmed down. We discussed what was new in town. Not that I really cared, but anything to keep her from throwing a tantrum again. Apparently, the need for a dentist during the holiday season had skyrocketed, and her karate skills had really come in handy on Black Friday. Mayor Charming beat Heart yet again. Sacred Grounds Coffee Shop had been sold to a New Jersey couple with annoying accents. They were nice and the coffee was still great, she said. Just then, Puck came in.

"I'm baaaa-aaack," he said in a singsong voice. "Oh, hey, your brother's here. What's his name again?"

"Basil. It's Basil," she replied flatly. "You've known him since he was two."

"Oh yeah! Right after—"Sabrina cut him off with a kiss. It was getting awkwardly intense. So I coughed loudly.

"Oh, right. Hi, Basil. You can go now," Puck told me. I left willingly, and ran straight into Red. I smiled as politely as I could.

"Hi, Red. How are you today?" I asked. She ran away. I'm still not sure why she lives here, but I guess my grandmother felt sorry for her because she was a crazy orphan. I'm starting to wonder if my grandmother ran an orphanage. Mr. Canis came in a little later.

"Oh, hello Basil," he said. "Have you seen Red?" I pointed him in the direction she had run off to. He sighed and followed. After that, the regular routine ensued: Mom and Dad came in and had a long, boring discussion with Sabrina and Puck. I set the table, we had dinner, and played Scrabble. Then Daphne got bored and started playing with a weird necklace she had and chanting in Latin. Sabrina and Puck dragged her off and left her in her room. Then, we all went to bed.

Right now, I'm writing this down on my computer. Someone's coming, so I should probably stop. Bye for now.

~Basil Grimm

Authors' Note: **Okay, do you like it? Do you hate it? Do you want to flame it so bad we die? All these are excellent choices, and the only way to let us know is to review. **_Anonymous reviews are accepted, for all you people who don't have accounts or are too lazy to log in. _

_~Cerulean _and **Apocalypse=)**


	2. Chapter 2

Authors' Note: Thanks so much to the people who reviewed! **We apologize if you feel that the characters are a little rough around the edges,** _or maybe that's just our imagination. (Whenever I write something, I always try to keep everyone in character)_** We don't own the ****Sisters Grimm**** book series. Happy New Year!**

Of Mirrors and Mayhem: Chapter Two

Okay, I'm back now. So that last entry summed up my first day. My second day got a little weirder. When I woke up, there was a crash downstairs. Evidently, Uncle Jake had come (I think he was drunk at the time). I haven't seen him since I was four, and that was the time we call The Coffee Issue. Now, Sabrina can't even look at coffee without shuddering. Anyway, he showed up drunk at three in the morning, yelling about 'those damn sparkly pixies'. I have a feeling he's been watching Twilight. Since I hadn't seen him in so long, I didn't recognize him and ran downstairs with a baseball bat, thinking he was a burglar. I hit him and he passed out. Realizing who he was, I sneaked back to bed and tried to pretend it never happened.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of banging pots and pans. I went downstairs.

"Morning, Sabrina."

"Good morning, Basil. Why were you sneaking around at three in the morning last night?" she asked innocently.

"Umm, I wasn't," I lied. How did she know?

"Don't bother lying, Basil. They don't call me the Queen of Sneaks for nothing," she replied, smirking (I forgot to mention this yesterday: Sabrina calls herself the Queen of Sneaks, and Puck calls himself the Trickster King).

"Who is 'they'?" asked Daphne, coming downstairs for breakfast. "I never called you that, and neither does anyone else."

"Be quiet, Daphne." My dad came downstairs, followed by my mom.

"Looks like it's going to snow," remarked Dad, looking through the window. Daphne bit her hand and squealed. This was yet another of her annoying habits. Red came downstairs holding her teddy bear.

"Are we having pancakes?" she asked.

"Yes," said Mom. "But I can't find any normal ingredients."

"I'll show you," said Daphne. She took out a variety of strange ingredients and began to mix them together. I'm no cooking expert, but I'm pretty sure that pancakes aren't filled with guava-coconut juice and covered in melted taffy. But then again, that's Daphne's cooking for you. According to Sabrina, she cooks like Granny Relda.

Red began petting my hair. "I like your hair," she said. "It's red. Red is my favorite color. Do you have a favorite color?"

"I like blue."

"Like Granny's hot chocolate?"

"Yeah. Like that," I said. This continued for a while, until the pancakes were finished, which took a long time. Mr. Canis and Puck came in.

"Hey, when did Jake get here? I found him lying on the roof," Puck asked.

"How did you get on the roof?" I questioned. He pretended not to hear.

"Well, get him down," said Daphne matter-of-factly.

"Fine, but if my work allergy acts up, it's your fault," he replied, going outside. A minute later, they both came back in. I wondered how they got back so fast.

"Hey, Uncle Jake!" said Daphne. She got up and hugged him. "We haven't seen you in forever!"

"I was out doing work with the Andersens," he explained. He looked at me. "Basil, you got taller!" he said, coming over to greet me. I guess he'd forgotten last night.

"Oh, I just remembered. Swineheart and Boarman are coming over today," said Mr. Canis. "There was an… incident with some of Puck's _friends_.

"You mean minions?" asked Puck, dumping more melted taffy on his coconut-and-guava pancakes.

"Yes, exactly. You need to watch them, they're getting out of control," said Mr. Canis.

Was Puck in a mob or something? I didn't know, but it was possible. Anything could happen with this crazy family. Just then, there was a knock on the door. Sabrina opened it. Whoever it was screamed.

"Look, Swineheart, I know this looks weird, but it was just Puck deciding to 'spread the Christmas cheer," I heard Sabrina explain.

"Speaking of Puck," grumbled a voice, "We need to have a little talk with him about his _little friends. _They've been causing us trouble lately." The two men came into the dining room. They were as fat as I remembered, to the point where I could call them the Three Little Pigs if they had a brother.

As if she had read my mind, Daphne asked, "How's your brother Ernie? I haven't seen him since he gave me my kazoo, and I was seven then. What are he and Bess up to?"

"They've created a movement to convince the government to put animals on the moon. They started with a few mice, so it's going quite smoothly," explained the other—Boarman, I think. Mice on the moon? This is really weird.

..~0~..

So that was day 2. Day 3 was yesterday, the day I started this log. It went about as normally as it can get around here. Sabrina only lost her temper at Puck twice, Daphne played with her necklaces and had a few more conversations with 'Harry', Uncle Jake, Mom, and Dad went to see some old friends, and Red alternated between being a cute little girl and slight insanity. I helped plan the Christmas party. I've never been to one because according to Mom and Dad, they get really crazy. But this year, they're actually letting me come, so that should be interesting.

Also, the Charmings came over today to help us plan. Billy, as usual, was an egotistical jerk. His wife, Snow (Who is really pretty and must have come from another hippie family), was actually really nice.

They have a daughter who's my age. She's really pretty, but the first thing she said to me was, "Hi, my name is Rosalina Sapphira Helena White-Charming." The long name reminded me of something. My friend Amy is obsessed with something called Fanfiction, and she's always ranting to us about these characters called Mary Sues and Gary Stus, who were all unnaturally perfect and stunningly pretty with long names, like this girl. But a minute later, she whispered, "Sorry about the name. My dad always makes me say that, because evidently, having a long name is impressive. Just call me Rose. _Please_."

"So, your dad's the mayor," I said, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, he is," she said.

"Have my sisters told you anything about me?" I asked, because I'd seriously been wondering what they said behind my back.

"Oh, my gosh." She got this creepy grin on her face. "They've never said anything, but I know everything about you and your family. See, my dad is mayor, and he keeps files on everyone in this town, and sometimes I get bored and I read them, so I know everything there is to know about everyone in this town! I even know how Puck proposed to your sister. He threw a ring at her head and said, 'Here. Wear this.' It happened right outside of City Hall, and I was there. It was soooo romantic!"

This girl was starting to scare me. "Uh, okay then," I said, backing away slowly, like they say to do when encountered by an angry grizzly bear. Then she seemed to realize how she sounded.

"Sorry about that. I get a little carried away sometimes," she said, looking embarrassed.

"It's okay," I said, hoping that she wasn't a Mary Sue, because over-emotional-ness seemed to be one quality of them, and I always felt awkward when people cried. I thought my fears were confirmed when her eyes began to water, but she just sneezed. Loudly.

"Bless you."

"Sorry," she said apologetically. "I have an allergy to dogs."

..~0~..

We all planned the Christmas party, which was supposed to be held in City Hall. Then, we went to bed and now here I am, typing this. I'll tell you about the Christmas party (which was today) tomorrow. And let's just say for now that a ton of weird stuff went on.

Authors' Note: **Well, what did you think of Rose? We gave her a Mary Sue name cause we thought it would be funny, but really, what did you think? Also, I would like to say that I am proud of that sneeze. **_We hope you enjoyed the chapter. Review, and we'll update on Sunday the 31__st__ (Harry Potter's Birthday!)._

~_Cerulean_ and** Apocalypse**


	3. Chapter 3

Authors' Note: **So, thanks to everyone who reviewed, and HAPPY 31****ST**** BIRTHDAY TO HARRY POTTER! Yes, I know the character isn't physically real, but still. **_We're hardcore Harry Potter fans Anyway, here's the Christmas party chapter (just 'cause we wish it was Christmas). _**We don't own the Sisters Grimm.**

Chapter 3

So now I have to tell you about Christmas. I woke up on Christmas morning and went downstairs. No, I don't believe in Santa anymore, but that still doesn't stop me from running downstairs at five A.M. on Christmas morning. Apparently it didn't stop Sabrina, Daphne, or Puck either. I swear, the three of them are kids trapped in adult bodies. Red was there too.

"Merry Christmas!" I said, going to unwrap my presents.

"No, wait, we have to wait for Mom and Dad," explained Sabrina, "They want to capture your childhood on video, since they missed most of ours."

"Seriously? Childhood? What the hell am I, six?" I asked, annoyed.

"Well, as I was a kid for a long, long time and no one needs to bother catching any more of mine of video, I'm just gonna go ahead," Puck announced. Sabrina hit him.

"Don't fight on Christmas," said Red. "It'll take away the magic." All of a sudden, Daphne got this crazy, excited look.

"Magic, huh?" she murmured quietly. "Basil, could you go to the kitchen and check on the cookies?" I agreed and went to the kitchen. While I was going there, I saw Daphne rubbing her necklaces. I don't know why I noticed that, but it struck me as important. I opened the oven and took the cookies out. For once, they were normal. I wondered if there was a catch, but then I remembered that Daphne always makes normal cookies. Even she had to draw the line somewhere.

When I got back to the living room, it had been completely transformed. The couches were patterned with Christmas trees, and there were red and green streamers everywhere. Holly and ivy adorned the walls, and a small model train circled the tree.

"Whoa, how'd you do this?" I asked.

"We work fast," said Daphne.

"We worked so hard, it almost triggered my work allergy," said Puck. Sabrina rolled her eyes and punched him good-naturedly.

"Let's just open the presents," she said.

"What happened to 'capturing my childhood'?" I asked.

"Forget it, childhood isn't about waiting for your parents to come downstairs on Christmas morning," Daphne answered. So I went ahead. Red gave me a drawing of me that made it look like my head was on fire, and a friendship bracelet. She made one for everyone, and we all pretended to like them so we wouldn't hurt her feelings. Except Daphne, she didn't have to pretend. Daphne and Sabrina gave me video games. Puck gave everyone but Sabrina a basketball and some glue. Puck and Sabrina each gave each other a tightly closed box. I asked what was in it, but they looked away and said it shouldn't be opened in public.

Then Mom, Dad, Uncle Jake, and Mr. Canis came downstairs. Mom and Dad scolded me about not waiting, but they weren't really mad.

..~0~..

After opening the presents, we all got ready for the Christmas party. Daphne gave all the puppies ridiculous Christmas sweaters. The dogs, by the way, were named Neon Tree, Paramore, Owl City, and Train. Daphne wanted to name them after the Beatles, but Sabrina said that was kind of cliché.

Anyway, the party started around two. We drove to City Hall, and a lot of really weird people showed up. The Charming were there, and so were Boarman, Swineheart, the Pipers, two old ladies named Mallobarb and Buzzflower (Probably more hippies. What's wrong with this town?), a woman called Goldilocks (Who Dad avoided),a group of lawyers called the Sherwood Group, a fat lady called Nurse Sprat, a British guy named Arthur and his friend Lance, the Arachnids, and us. There were others, but I didn't know their names. I didn't want to either, seeing how crazy people in this town were. Some of them didn't seem to like us, either.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hi!" It was Rose. She looked pretty nice. Her dark hair was curled and there were pieces of holly in it. Her dress was silver and low-cut.

"Oh, hey," I said. "Is it always this crazy?" I asked, referring to Arthur and a member of the Sherwood group, who were having a mock swordfight with steak knives.

"Sometimes it's waaaay worse," she admitted. She looked around the room, and said, "Ooooh, come on! There's someone I have to introduce you to," then grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the window. She introduced me to a few people whose names I quickly forgot. I was starting to get really bored. Rose noticed this, and took me over to a pool table, where a few other kids my age were playing.

"This is Robert Hood, Daniella Pendragon, and Marvin Piper," she said. "Guys, this is Basil Grimm." Robert was a blond athletic-looking guy who was wearing all green. Daniella was petite with mousy brown hair, but she had a friendly smile. Marvin was… well, being a guy, I can't really say, but he was what Amy and Trixie, my friends from home, would call… 'Hot'. I only know this because he looks kind of like this famous actor who they drool over, so don't judge.

Anyway, they all seemed pretty nice and invited me to play pool. The game was just getting interesting when the door suddenly burst open and some guy ran in. He looked kind of like Puck, only he was wearing some weird toga thing that was made out of leaves. I think even Puck has enough sanity not to wear that.

"Puck!" the weirdo shouted. "I have returned to avenge Sabrina's death! Why did you kill her?" What was he talking about? Sabrina was right over there, in the corner with… Puck. Oh crap, I thought. I had a feeling this wouldn't end well.

The man walked right over and punched him in the face.

"You again," said Puck, his eyes narrowing. The whole room went quiet. I half expected tumbleweeds to roll by. The man held up his hands.

"Yes! It is I, Peter—"The man was cut off when Puck kicked him in the groin. He fell down on the floor screaming, and Puck kicked and punched him some more. Peter got back up and tackled Puck, and they rolled across the floor screaming and cursing each other in ways I'd never even heard (Seeing as I take the subway every day, that's saying something). Finally, they got up, and Puck looked ready to do something drastic.

That was when Rose yelled, "Hey! Mistletoe!" Then, she grabbed me and pulled me into a very sloppy kiss, the kind Sabrina used on Puck when he was going to say something he shouldn't. Or, when they were actually being romantic, but that almost never happened.

Rose continued kissing me for a long time. When she finally stopped, the fight had ended.

"What was that about?" I asked her.

She avoided my eyes and tried to come up with an excuse. "Um, the mistletoe was right above us. It's tradition to kiss someone who's standing under the mistletoe," she stuttered. There wasn't any mistletoe.

"But there is none," I told her. She looked around nervously.

"Hey! Wanna come and sled down that hill on cookie sheets?" interrupted Robert. I got the feeling he was just trying to make an excuse, but it sounded fun. And that's how the rest of the night went. We forgot our jackets, though, and I have hypothermia today. I'm currently stuck in bed, and Daphne and Mom keep bringing me oddly-colored soup. I wonder what Rose was hiding. I wonder how Peter knows my sister and why he thinks she's dead. I also wonder how Puck managed to throw him onto a chandelier that was forty feet above us. At some point, this might all make sense, but as of now, I'm screwed.

Authors' Note: **Feel free to guess what Sabrina and Puck gave each other. Make it as dirty as you want, but if you feel it's too dirty, PM us. **_We hope you enjoyed the chapter and we'll try to update soon. _**Until, then review.**

~_Cerulean_ and **Apocalypse**


	4. Chapter 4

Authors' Note:_ Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, we appreciate every single one. Also thanks to RedGrimm and KENDRA1212 for the suggestions. We may or may not use them ( we can't say because that would ruin the plot) but thank you. _**So here's chapter 4. Oh, and I have a funny story to tell you at the end of this. Disclaimer: We don't own Sister Grimm.**

Chapter 4

Okay, my hypothermia's finally gone. My days in bed were completely boring, but the good news is that today's New Years' Eve. Every year, there's a huge fireworks display in Ferryport Landing. I was really looking forward to it, because Rose invited us up to the top of City Hall to watch. I'm still confused about her for kissing me for no reason, but I'm taking advantage of her offer to watch the fireworks from the top of City Hall with Robert, Daniella, and Marvin. I've seen Ferryport Landing fireworks, and believe me, they are not something that you want to be within a half-mile radius of. If I didn't know better, I'd say they were magic.

The fireworks were at midnight, but Rose led us up to the roof at 11:15. She said she had a 'surprise' for us. Now, I don't really care for surprises, partly because most of them involve Daphne's cooking, but mostly because I had a very traumatic experience with a surprise party. Don't ask, because it can only be explained with four words: it was Puck's idea.

Anyway, I pushed past my fear of surprises. She made us this huge plain vanilla cake that she told us we could decorate. I'm not usually one for cooking, but this was fun. We had this huge frosting war, and Marvin fell face-first into a vat of chocolate icing. He seemed mad at first, but he laughed about it later. Soon, it was 11:50. We started the countdown.

"So what are your New Years' resolutions?" I asked, because that's always an interesting topic.

"Nothing special," said Daniella, "Just the usual: better grades, win that fencing tournament that's coming up, convince Mom and Dad to buy me one of those cute miniature horses; nothing special really."

"You fence?" I asked, slightly surprise, because she didn't look like the athletic type.

"Does she fence?" asked Marvin, raising his eyebrows and laughing. "Dude, she once took out a psycho gym teacher using a ruler. She's amazing." Rose laughed a little too hard. And I may have imagined this, but I think she batted her eyelashes at him. He looked away.

"What about you, Rob?" I asked.

"Hmm…. I guess I should learn to avoid getting shot," he said. I assumed this was a joke and laughed. No one else did.

"Oh wait, you were serious? Sorry," I said, noticing their expressions.

"Yeah…. My dad decided to teach archery to little kids, and I made the mistake of being within shooting range," he explained.

"Rose, what about you?" asked Daniella.

"Well, mine… It's kind of a romantic resolution," she said, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Ooooh, Rose is in looooove," teased Robert playfully. "With whom?"

"No one, yet. I don't know, just someone that's… different," said Rose. She looked as if she regretted mentioning it.

"Mine," said Marvin, "Is to gain my dad's respect. All he ever talks about is Wendell, and what he did in the— Never mind. it's not important. What about you, Basil?"

I thought for a minute. My grades were fine, and there was nothing really wrong with my life—oh wait, never mind. That gave me an idea. "Okay, this is gonna be kind of hard to explain. I don't know if you guys ever noticed, but my family's a little weird. This year, I want to find out what's up with them, like why Mom and dad disappeared for two years. Why didn't they tell Sabrina and Daphne about Granny Relda existing? And I still haven't figured out who the hell Harry is!" I told them. Rose looked like she was about to say something, but she was holding it back.

"All families are a little weird," said Marvin. "Yours probably isn't that bad." Actually, it was that bad, but hey, it was New Years' Eve. And there was only a minute to the new year.

"Look, the fireworks are gonna start," said Daniella. Thirty seconds to go. We all started chanting.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, _five, four ,__**three, two, ONE! **__**Happy New Year!" **_The whole crowd cheered at once. Well, except for some random girl who screamed "Happy Birthday!" Then, Rose did something that I wasn't expecting. She took the rest of the cake and threw it into one of those automatic firework dispensers. The cake exploded all over the square. We all stopped screaming and looked at the fireworks for a second.

"Were you planning that?" I asked, licking the frosting off my face. Rose smiled mischievously.

"Yep," she said proudly. "Now, it sets off all the other fireworks!" Sure enough, fireworks blasted off on different rooftops all around us. We watched in awe for a few minutes. Oddly, the fireworks erupted in the shape of mistletoe.

"Mistletoe," I said to Rose, pointing up. Now, you have to understand, we were all on sugar highs, and we went a little crazy. So… I kissed Rose. Yep. I kissed her. It wasn't bad. It was kind of one of those impulsive, crazy things that you do when you're really excited. I blame the sugar high. Still, it was nice… until someone screamed.

"Puck!" It was Peter again. The weird part was, he seemed to be… flying. Again, I blame the sugar. Then, Puck flew out of the crowd. Except he had big pink wings sprouting out of his back. He pulled out this wooden sword, and they began to fight in midair.

"How dare you kill Sabrina?" yelled Peter. "I, Peter Pan, love her eternally, and I plan to bring her back from the dead!" I noticed Sabrina in the crowd below, edging away quietly. Puck was confused for a moment, and Peter took the opportunity to knock him to the roof, right in front of us.

"You loser wannabe!" screamed Puck. "You're just as much of a pathetic copy of me as ever!" The insults continued. Meanwhile, I was still stuck on trying to fit Puck and his fairy wings into reality. And was that guy Peter Pan? I guess even he had to grow up sometime, but really, what was going on? Then, it got even stranger.

Daniella grabbed a heavy stick and charged at Peter. "You can surrender, or you can face a knight of the Round table, King Arthur's own daughter," she threatened. "Your choice."

Peter laughed. "You can't defeat me! I'm Peter Pan! The King of Loafers, the Prince of Low Expectations, the Spiritual Guide for Millions of Complainers, Criminals, and Convicts. I'm King of Fairies, and my kingdom is on the wrong side of the tracks. I'm the Trickster King!" Then he was tackled from behind.

"You liar! I am the Trickster King, and always will be!" screamed Puck in rage. That was when Daniella sprinted toward Peter and knocked the sword out of his hand. Robert took a slingshot out of his pocket and fired pebbles at his head, which knocked him unconscious. Marvin pulled a small clarinet out of his pocket and played a few notes. Two large vultures swooped down and picked up Peter.

"Wait," said Puck. He pulled a flute out of his pocket and played something. Some small, bright lights appeared and assisted the vultures. "Bite him till he wakes up," he told the lights, which blinked as if agreeing with him. Then, Peter Pan's body was flown away.

..~0~..

That was New Years' Eve. For some reason, it was as if fairy tales were coming to life. Getting home was a blurred memory. I wish that I could just pass the whole night off as a sugar-induced hallucination, but I can't. I overheard a conversation between my sisters, Puck, Mr. Canis, Uncle Jake, and my parents as I was going to bed.

"Should we have forgetful dust poured over the town?" I heard Daphne ask.

"No," said Mr. Canis. "We'll have to tell Basil at some point. He can't go through his whole life not knowing about the family legacy. Plus, the humans in the crowd were mostly drunk, and the ones who weren't were probably distracted by the fireworks."

"Puck, why did you have to be so careless?" I heard my dad ask. I think he smacked him in the face, too.

"No one gets to call himself the Trickster King, or Queen, but me," insisted Puck. "After all, I'm four thousand, and he wasn't documented by Shakespeare." Personally, I was surprised that Puck knew who Shakespeare was. But really, were they all drunk, or was some of it true? Puck didn't look four thousand, and he didn't act like it. But he didn't seem sarcastic. A family legacy, that was possible. The Grimm family… Wait. Could we be related to Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm? They wrote down fairy tales, so maybe we were distantly related, and that's why. But it doesn't explain everything. All the weirdness in my family can't be passed off just by claiming that my great-great-great grandfathers or something wrote down fairy tales. No, I was going to go home and figure out what was going on.

End of Chapter

Authors' Note: _Okay, thanks for reading. _**Now, for my ridiculous tale about what happened when I went to the bank today with my mom. **

**My mom was filling out paperwork, and I was dying of boredom. Yes, the bank had free lollipops, but I was only allowed to have one. After almost an hour, I was about to die of boredom. Then, this old lady with bright red hair walked into the bank. She was wearing a bright yellow dress with a big yellow flower on it. I felt like screaming, "Oh my gosh! It's Granny Relda! She's alive!" Of course, that would have made me look crazy, so I didn't. Sadly, that was the highlight of my day. **

~_ Cerulean_ and **Apocalypse**


	5. Chapter 5

Authors' Note: **Okay, I know there have been rumors that we died because we didn't update every other day. Instead, I just almost broke my finger and both of my shoulders. This is why Cerulean is typing. **_We just want to say that this story is going to be quite long (Around 50 chapters) and will become more intense. For that reason, we will change the genre from Humor/Family to Humor/Adventure. Again, we don't own the Sisters Grimm._

Chapter 5

I had planned on confronting my family about the incident that occurred last night the minute we woke up the next day, but when I woke up, I was in the car heading back towards New York City. I tried asking anyway, but they accused me of underage drinking. I definitely was not drinking, but I couldn't convince them. Luckily, they didn't punish me. I have a feeling that they knew I wasn't lying, but they kept insisting that it was true until I almost believed it. Almost.

..~0~..

When school started again, I tried to put the incident out of my mind, but I still couldn't shake the suspicion that I was surrounded by fairy tales. Part of this feeling was confirmed when the teachers announced that we were reading A Midsummer Night's Dream for English. I was really bored by it until we got to Act 2. There was a part that said:

_Either I mistake your shape and making quite,/ Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite/ Call'd Robin Goodfellow__: __Are you not he/That frightens the maidens of the villagery/Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern,/ And bootless make the breathless housewife churn;/ And sometime make the drink to bear no barm; / mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?/ Those that the Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck,/ You do their work, and they shall have good luck: Are you not he?_

Wait. Robin Goodfellow? That was Puck's name. And Puck's name was actually mentioned. Some of these things sounded like stuff he would do. So right then, I decided that there were two options: Either Puck's parents were Shakespeare obsessed hippies, or the characters Shakespeare wrote about were waking off the pages of books and into my life. But now that I think of Puck sprouting wings out of nowhere, I'm starting to believe the second.

..~0~..

When school ended for the day, I was walking through the park with some friends. Amy, Trixie, Jeffrey, Aaron, and Jillian were with me. Amy was ranting about how no one reviewed her latest fanfiction story. Aaron started talking about his favorite subject: the supernatural.

"Seriously, I don't get why you people don't believe in ghosts. I mean, one day, I'm going to prove that ghosts exist. Then, I will be famous. Like… like-," he couldn't think for a second, but then he noticed a statue in the corner of the park. "Like that guy."

"Hans Christian Andersen?" asked Jill. "Really? You want to be like a guy who got famous for writing down fairy tales?" she asked.

"Well, people have heard of him, haven't they?" Aaron replied defensively.

"Yeah, but he was crazy. He kept killing off all his characters. The Little Mermaid died of a broken heart. The Little Match Girl froze to death. And the ugly duckling is just depressing," claimed Jill.

"I kind of cried when I read The Little Match Girl," admitted Trixie. We all looked at her. "Hey, I was only three!"

"I've never even heard of the Little Match Girl," Jeff commented. "What did she do, set people up on dates?"

Trixie hit him. "She sold matches, idiot. And then she froze to death."

"That's a real good story to tell a little kid," I added sarcastically.

"The sad thing is, that's my earliest memory," said Trixie. "Crying my eyes out after hearing that story."

"My earliest memory is almost drowning," said Jeff. "I fell off the deep end of a pool." We stared at him.

"Mine is falling down a hill," commented Jill. I thought a moment.

"Mine's kind of weird," I told them. "It was just this big red handprint. And something about a mirror. I don't know why." Now they all stared at me.

"That's not that weird," said Jill. "Maybe you were finger-painting!" I didn't know if she was being sarcastic or not (She's a really sarcastic person). However, I'm pretty sure that whatever was going on in the memory, I wasn't finger-painting.

"I think I should get going," said Amy. "It's getting late and the teachers gave us a ton of homework. Bye!" She ran to the nearest exit and disappeared into the nearest subway station.

"We'd better leave too," said Trixie (She and Jeff lived in the same building).

"Yeah, it's cold," said Jill. "I'm going home." She started off toward the statue of Hans Christian Andersen. You would think that she was going in the direction of her apartment, but she just disappeared behind the statue. I wondered where she was going.

..~0~..

When I got to my apartment, I tossed my bag on the couch and went to my room. The phone rang, and I answered. It was my mom.

"Basil, it's me. Listen, I left a shopping list somewhere near the kitchen. Could you find it for me?" she asked.

"Sure Mom, I'll look," I said. I went into the kitchen and started rifling through various cabinets. Now, I have to admit something about my mom: she's completely disorganized. I once found a spoon in a pillowcase, toothpaste in the freezer, and a cup of coffee in the shower, although that last one was probably Dad. So I started looking for the list not on the counter, but in the cabinet where we keep cleaning supplies.

I shoved some rolls of paper towels out of the way and the piece of wood at the back of the cabinet fell back. Great, now I have to fix it. There was something behind it. I reached back and pulled out a pile of old books. Inside one of them was the shopping list. But why were there books behind a plank of wood? It was almost like they were trying to hide something. Maybe they were. But why would they try to hide a bunch of books? Unless…I looked at the books, half expecting them to be old copies of Playboy, or some kind of personal sappy love letters, or even some really dirty book, but they looked like regular old journals (Emphasis on old). I opened one, labeled, 'Fairy-Tale Encounters: Daphne Grimm'. This is what the first page said.

_Dear journal,_

_My name is Daphne Grimm and I am seven years old. A few days ago me and my sister Sabrina came to Ferryport Landing. She's 11 and we live with our granny Relda who calls us leebling sometimes and mr. Canis who is sometimes real grouchy. Then granny got kidnapped by a jiant. Sabrina and me saved her. Also we found this guy named Puck living in the woods with magical piksies and he can fly and controls them with a magic flute and stuff. Sabrina didn't beleev it but we are surrownded by fairy tales becuz our greatgreatgreat grandfather was Wilhelm Grimm and he brought them to America. They are stuck in town becuz a which named baba Yaga trapped them, and our family cant leave Ferryport landing becuz then the magic barryer would fall and then the Everafters (that's what we call fairy tale creatures) would get out, even the bad ones. I think Sabrina is started to beleev becuz Puck flies a lot and mr. Canis is the Big Bad Wolf, sort of. Puck tried to push us off a diveing board when we met him becuz he thought that we were spies, but he decided not to. Sabrina doesint like him. Oh yeah, and today is Saturday. Also, we lived in foster homes for two years and we kept escaping becuz the people in them were mucho meano to us and Sabrina is really smart and good at escapeing. Also, Prince Charming is the mayor and he's really handsom but he's mean. _

_Love,_

_Daphne. _

What the heck was that? Puck flies, has magical 'piksies', and Mr. Canis is the Big Bag Wolf. Was this some kind of novel? Daphne did have a very vivid imagination (Just think of Harry) but then again, Puck really could fly. I didn't believe the stuff about Mr. Canis, though. I took them into my room and replaced the board. I looked through the other journals, and they were also full of 'fairy-tale encounters'. And what scared me is that the books didn't just belong to Daphne. Many of them were quite old, and I even found one that was labeled, 'Wilhelm Grimm', like one of the original guys who wrote down fairy tales.

I'm starting to feel like one of those movie characters who finds out something important and then everything weird that happened starts to make sense. One journal was from Sabrina. In she wrote about how she didn't want to believe 'Everafters' were real, and she just wanted Mom and Dad to wake up so they could go back to the city. She also wrote about working as a 'fairy tale detective'. Now, Sabrina is not very imaginative. She hates fairy tales, so why would she write about them if she considered them crap? I think I could ignore this if it was just Daphne, but it was a whole bunch of grown men and women who seemed to honestly believe what they wrote. I couldn't help wondering if it was true. Then the phone rang.

"Basil? Are you there? It's me, Daphne."

"Hi, Daphne,"I responded. I really wanted to ask about the 'Everafters' but I wanted more proof before I confronted them.

"I just wanted to remind you that you left Mr. Wooglestein here," she explained calmly, as if she was trying to embarrass me. Mr. Wooglestein is my teddy bear. I keep trying to get rid of him, but he keeps coming back. It's a little scary, like one of those Ouija boards.

"I know, Daphne," I responded, slightly annoyed that he had come back to haunt me again. "Keep him there."

"Okay, he can keep Kraven the Deceiver company," she said. Kraven the Deceiver? This was new.

"Who's he?" I asked. Daphne giggled.

"He's Puck's big stuffed unicorn with a rainbow on its side," she snickered. "He still sleeps with it. Sabrina finds it creepy and keeps saying that she can't sleep at night with it staring her down, but Puck won't let her get rid of it. I find it hilarious, and whenever she goes to throw it out, I bring it back and and put it under her pillow. She thinks it's alive."

"Daphne, what did you say?" I heard Sabrina question from the background.

"Nothing," lied Daphne. "Do you want to talk to Basil?"

'I'll talk to you later," I said quickly. "Bye." I hung up and stood there for a moment thinking, Puck has a unicorn? But that's besides the point. If Daphne would go through the garbage just to play a trick on Sabrina, how far would she go to make this fairy-tale thing seem real? I don't know, but I'm going to try and find out more.


	6. Chapter 6

Authors' Note: _I, Cerulean, just played 21 singles tennis matches and won 16 of them What did Apocalypse do? She played Chinese checkers with our dad. _**But  
>I won! <strong>_Anyway, we don't own the Sisters Grimm. Enjoy the chapter and thanks to all the wonderful reviewers. It really inspires us to write more. _

Chapter 6

After finding a bunch of really old journals written by my family members claiming the existence of fairytale creatures, you'd think nothing could surprise me. Well, you thought wrong.

A few days after finding the journals, I was walking home with my friends again. Jill said goodbye and headed off toward the statue of Hans Christian Andersen. About a minute later, I realized that I'd borrowed her notes and had forgotten to give them back. So I followed her, only to see her touch the statue and vanish. Creepy.

I realize that what I did next makes me sound like a stalker, but before you call me one, let me ask you this: What would you have done if you saw your friend touch a statue and vanish? Yeah, that's what I thought. So I ran over to the statue, but for some reason, I didn't vanish.

"Jill?" I called, leaning against the statue. "Uh, knock knock? It's me, Basil." Then, out of nowhere, the statue moved its head (which practically gave me a freakin' heart attack).

"Who's there?" it replied, smiling.

"Basil Grimm," I said. Then the world went all blurry, and suddenly, I was standing in front of a restaurant with a sign that said The Golden Egg.

"What are you staring at?" demanded a voice. I looked down… and there was a cookie talking to me. A cookie. A gingerbread man, to be exact.

"Well, what are you looking at? You wanna fight, tough guy?" it snarled.

"Why am I talking to a cookie?" I asked. Then, it bit me. Ironic, right? So I picked it up. It—or he, I guess—began kicking and screaming.

"I ain't a cookie! Cookies are round, you dumbass meat person!" he yelled. Wow, a cookie just called me a dumbass. That's a first. In revenge, I stole one of its gumdrop buttons.

"Noooo! Not the gumdrop buttons!" he wailed. He twisted away from me and ran away screaming, "Run! Run! As fast as you can! You can't catch me! I'm the gingerbread man!"

I stood there, confused for a moment. Then I went inside the restaurant. To my surprise, I saw Mustardseed sitting at one of the tables with Jill.

"Jill! I forgot, I still have your notes!" I said. I know, a cookie just called me a dumbass and I remember the notes.

"Why are you here, Basil? You shouldn't have come," she snapped. I was a little surprised. She looked angrier than I've ever seen her. Her blue eyes narrowed .

"Calm down, Jill," said Mustardseed. "He's a Grimm. You know that," he reminded her.

"You two know each other?" I asked, because they'd never mentioned it.

"Of course," said Mustardseed. "I assume they've decided to tell you, after all?" Hmm. So Mustardseed and Jill were in on the secret.

"Not exactly," I said, "But I figured it out. I mean, your brother sprouted wings right in front of me. It's kind of hard to hide after that."

"He did? Idiot. He should know better. Why did he do it?"

"There was this Peter Pan guy, and he was wearing this toga, and he seemed to think that Sabrina was dead. So he and Puck just started fighting," I explained. Mustardseed seemed to be thinking over this.

Finally, he asked me, "Basil, how much do you know?"

I thought a bit. "Okay… so apparently, my family is connected with a bunch of stories that have come to life. At least, that's what it seems like."

"That's only the beginning," said Jill. She and Mustardseed exchanged glances before continuing. "You see—" But she was cut off by a familiar voice.

"Basil? What are you doing here?" asked my mom. Oh, dammit.

"Hi, Mom," I said in a small voice, like the time she'd caught me stealing from the cookie jar when I was six.

..~0~..

She dragged me out of the Golden Egg before Jill could finish. I kept asking questions, but she refused to answer any of them. When my dad came home, he didn't tell me anything. All she told me was that I was no longer allowed in the Golden Egg.

The school year dragged on. I kept the journals hidden in my room, and took them out every once in a while. I found one of Sabrina's journals. It was from when she was 11 and first came to Ferryport Landing.

_Dear Journal,_

_Today I found out that I am descended from the brothers Grimm and my duty is to solve the problems of fairy tale creatures who shouldn't even exist. I hate it, but my little sister Daphne loves it to no end. Life stinks. _

_For the past year and a half, we have lived in multiple foster homes after our parents were kidnapped. The only clue the police found was a red handprint in their abandoned car. Daphne and I were placed under the care of an evil caseworker named Minerva Smirt. We were placed in a lot of really bad foster homes and managed to escape them all. I am not called the Queen of Sneaks for nothing. Eventually, we ended up in Ferryport Landing with an actual relative, Granny Relda. At first, I thought she was a psycho loon who was trying to kill us with food poisoning. However, I realized that's she's really nice and is actually our grandmother. She lives with a guy called Mr. Canis, who is really grouchy but isn't that bad. _

_I wish I could say the same for the rest of the town. Most of the fairy-tale creatures (Everafters) hate us because they're trapped in this town because of our great-great-great grandfather, who put a spell on the town with a witch called Baba Yaga. People say she's a cannibal. I can't really blame them for hating us. Who'd want to be stuck here?_

_The worst part of Ferryport Landing is the constant danger. Granny was kidnapped by a giant, but luckily we got her back. Closely coming in second is this guy called Puck. Apparently, he's a four thousand year old fairy boy who looks eleven, acts 4, and was in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He's annoying, loud, and smelly. I think there are worms in his hair. Granny decided to let him live with us. _

_Anyway, Granny says I'll learn to love it. Daphne already has, but I can't imagine how. _

_~Sabrina Grimm_

..~0~..

So, that's the truth. At least, I think it is. It's almost spring break right now, and when I go to Ferryport Landing, I'll find out more. For the first time ever, I'm actually looking forward to it.

~Basil Grimm

Authors' Note:** Just review. Please. **


	7. Chapter 7

Authors' Note: _Okay, the last chapter was a little short, so we're going to try and make this one longer. Thanks to all the reviewers. _**I am not an 'after nine o' clock' person, and Cerulean was being cranky. **

Chapter 7

Right now, it's spring break, and I am finally back in Ferryport Landing. This is the first time I've ever actually been excited about coming here. If my theory was correct, the Easter bunny was going to come out of nowhere and bring me candy. Okay, probably not, but I can dream, can't I?

Anyway, when I got to the house, everyone was acting distant, even Daphne. So I decided to go see Rose. I borrowed a bike that I found in the basement and rode into the main square of town. I knocked on the door of the mayor's house. A really short little man answered.

"Hi, is Rose home?" I asked.

"No. But Rosalina Helena Sapphira White-Charming is here. Do you want to see her instead?" asked the little man.

"Okay," I agreed. I followed the little man into what I guess was the living room. Rose was jumping on a trampoline and eating a lollipop. "Hey, Rose!"

She did a somersault in midair, which was probably really hard to do while eating a lollipop. "Hi, Basil!" she yelled. "Wanna jump with me?"

"Sure," I called back. I climbed up and we started jumping. "So what's up?" I asked. She got that creepy grin again.

"Well, I think Daniella and Robert are going to start dating, and I think they would make a really cute couple, don't you? Ooooh, and did you hear about Marvin's brother Wendell? He's getting married, and I think that Marvin is annoyed, 'cause he always thinks his brother's a goody two shoes because of the time he told their dad about how Marvin got a tattoo. I mean, really, can you imagine Marvin getting a tattoo? I don't know why he did it in the first place, but I don't blame his brother for telling. Oh, and Wendell's marrying this girl called Rapunzel, do you know her? She has this really long hair, and her stepmother didn't want her to get married but she will anyway. Isn't that so romantic? And did you hear about the Lilliputs? They're finally getting out of jail! They were arrested a really long time ago for robbing a store, but they kept increasing their sentence because they failed to cooperate. And guess what-"I cut her off.

"And did you know that my family is descended from the brothers Grimm and that it's apparently our job to solve all the problems of fairytale creatures?" I asked. Maybe I was overreacting, but I just wanted someone to answer my questions honestly. And I knew Rose was in on the secret. Her face turned really red and she looked away. "Well, did you?" I demanded.

She sighed deeply. "Okay, okay, yes I did. And don't use the term 'fairy tale creature', say Everafter. And before you say anything else, you have to realize that your family doesn't want you to know."

"Why not?" I questioned. "I'm a Grimm, aren't I? And from what I've learned, Sabrina found out when she was eleven, Daphne found out when she was seven, and I'm way older than that. Why tell them and not me?"

"Believe me, they have a very good reason," said Rose quietly. "It was because… well, I can't tell you more than what you know, but if you knew the whole story, you'd understand why they wanted to keep it from you."

I sat there for a minute, trying to digest this information. I was annoyed at my family for not telling me, and I'd assumed it was because they'd figured that having two kids involved with this was enough. Either that, or they'd just thought I was just going to destroy the legacy of the 'sisters Grimm'. But was there really a reason? The idea made me feel a little better. Just then, a woman that was as pretty as Rose came in.

"Rose, do you know where your father's golfing ascot is? He's looking for it and he can't—Oh, hello. Aren't you Basil Grimm?"

"Oh, yes," I answered, jumping off the trampoline and shaking hands.

"Basil, this is my mom," said Rose.

"You can call me Snow," she said. "Rose has told me so much about you. How's your family? I haven't seen them in a while, except Sabrina, and we were busy teaching a black belt karate class."

I was a little surprised that Mrs. Charming would spend her time with my sister teaching karate, but I decided not to comment on this fact. "They're fine," I said.

"And anyway, Mom, I don't know where Dad's golfing ascot is. Can't he just wear his croquet scarf? I don't really see the difference."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THERE'S NO DIFFERENCE?" yelled a man with a British accent. "My golfing ascot is maroon and chartreuse argyle. My croquet scarf is raspberry and pea green argyle. That's a very distinct difference. And scarves are too long for golf, it said so in Gentlemen's Quarterly."

Snow laughed. "Do you realize how ridiculous you sound?" she asked.

"This is a very serious matter!" he cried. "Would you ever mix plaid and floral?" He was in sheer hysterics. It was kind of funny, not that I'd ever admit it.

Snow, however, did not think it was funny. "Oh, ew, never. Forget I mentioned the scarf, we'll go find your golf ascot." They were about to leave the room, when Snow added, "Oh, and this is Basil Grimm." Mayor Charming frowned at me.

"ANOTHER Grimm? Why can't they all just die out already?" he complained. "Just when I thought that Daphne would die old and alone, and Sabrina and Puck would never have kids, here's another Grimm!"

"That's a little harsh, isn't it?" I asked.

"So is being trapped in this town," he complained.

"Be nice, Billy, or I won't help you find your ascot," threatened Snow.

"Fine, fine. Sorry, kid. Daphne won't die old and alone; she has friends." Then, they left the room to go find the golfing ascot.

"Sorry about that," Rose apologized. She had that Please-let-me-just-sink-through-the-floor-and-die look. "He didn't mean it."

"No, it's okay. Really, everyone has weird parents," I said. "It's not your fault."

"I know, but I guess everyone likes to feel that theirs are the weirdest," she explained. I thought about that. I did like to think that I had a really weird family, but now that I think about it, if we just had a different last name, we'd be pretty normal. It's strange how such a small thing can make a difference.

..~0~..

Rose and I hung out for a little while longer, and then I went home. When I got back to the house, Sabrina was making dinner. That's a relief, because I don't think I could choke down any more of Daphne's starfish and waffle cone soufflés. Plus, Sabrina has issues about the word 'starfish'.

Anyway, I walked into the kitchen. "Hi, Sabrina," I said. She ignored me. "Sabrina? What are you making?" She ignored me again. I went into the living room, where Red was drawing a picture. "What are you drawing, Red?" I asked. She squeaked and ran off. I went to find Daphne. "Daphne? Have you seen Mr. Wooglestein?" I asked. Okay, I know that was a pathetic card to play, but my family was completely ignoring me. She ignored me. Okay, new strategy. "Daphne, I was over at Rose's house, and her dad told me that you would die old and alone." She just walked away, looking annoyed. I went to find my parents, but they kept ignoring me as well. So did Mr. Canis. He just sat there, meditating. I would have found Puck and tried to get him to talk, but he was at 'work'. Whether that meant the dentist's office or the mafia, I had no idea, but the point is, he wasn't here.

Call me crazy, but I really don't like being ignored. So I decided to see how far they would take this 'silent treatment' thing. So I decided to do something I have been told to never, ever, do, no matter what the circumstances.

..~0~..

The event that I caused occurred during dinner. Everyone was ignoring me. I finished eating. Then I went to the fridge, and took out a pack of sausages. I walked over to the puppies. At this point, everyone at the table was staring, frozen in a state of shock. I slowly opened the package. Daphne made this terrified squeaking noise and bit her palm, but no one moved to stop me.

I dropped the sausages, right in front of them puppies. And I ran like hell.

Behind me, I could heard the noise of puppies attacking the sausage. Then, I smelled something so bad, it was unimaginable. This was accompanied by explosive sounds and screaming. I dove into the nearest room. Which just so happened to be 'Harry's' closet. Minutes passed. I could still hear screaming, but luckily, the smell didn't make it through the door.

After about an hour, I began to wonder what had become of my family. I assumed they had left the house, but maybe they passed out. I looked around for air freshener, clothespins to hold your nose shut, an oxygen tank, a gas mask, anything I could use to get out of the house. But there was just an old mirror. No sign of 'Harry'.

Just out of boredom, I called, "Harry… Come out, come out, wherever you are! I know you're in here."

To my shock, someone called out, "I'm right here! You know that."

htheee voice aws cminng frmmm ,e;fkiosapnhexquimetery fred78ppppppgtyt trghw coghaQ

Authors' Note: **we regret to inform you that Basil has fallen asleep while typing. **_The only way he can be brought back is with plenty of reviews. Any kind will do. Thanks for reading!_

~_Cerulean _and **Apocalypse =)**


	8. Chapter 8

Authors' Note: _Thanks for the reviews. _Especially killer bunnies, Madison, The Evil Scrapbooker, RockSuperstar, Lavenrith, Yorkie999777000, lizalot, and kitty whiskers. _Anyway, here's the chapter. _**Also, I keep forgetting to mention this: who do you think Jill is?**

Chapter 8

Sorry I fell asleep back there, I was really tired. Anyway, I think I was… Oh yeah, that's right. I was at the part where I heard a voice come from a mirror. I was really confused. Did this mean that Daphne wasn't crazy? Or maybe, I was.

"Who's there?" I called.

"It's me. Harry. You know, your magic mirror?" replied the voice. "Who is that, anyway? I can't see you."

I didn't know if this guy was crazy or not, so I tried me best Daphne imitation. "It's me, Daphne," I called back in the girliest voice I could muster. Looking back, I probably sounded more like a dying cat.

"I have no idea who the hell you are, but your imitation is fooling no one. Come forward, so I can see you," commanded the voice. I considered taking my chances running away through the house, but then I figured that the smell would kill me before I got down the stairs. Besides, I had to find out. I walked toward the mirror.

There was a face inside, but not mine. I mean, I could see my reflection, but past that, a little man stood inside the mirror. I looked behind me, expecting to see him standing there, but no. He seemed to be inside the mirror, if that was possible. "And who might you be?" asked the man. Then, to my surprise, he grinned. "Let me guess. You're Basil Grimm, right?" I nodded. "That's great! Come on in!"

"Wait, what do you mean? We're already in the closet, aren't we?" I asked.

"You're kidding, right? Don't be silly, step right through," he said, as if it was perfectly normal to just walk through mirrors. Experimentally, I reached out, trying to touch the glass. My hand slipped right through. I jerked it away in shock. "What are you waiting for? Come on in," invited Harry. I took a deep breath and stepped through.

I don't know what I expected to see. Maybe a dark tunnel, or just a reflection of the room. But it definitely wasn't this. I was standing in a room the size of Grand Central Station, but the design of it reminded me of a ski lodge. There was a huge fireplace and a giant cuckoo clock in one corner. It was paneled with wood, and there were bearskin rugs on the floor.

"Welcome to the Chalet of Wonders, kid," Harry announced. He handed me a mug of hot cocoa and a ski helmet. "What can I do for you? Need a magic wand, the Shoes of Swiftness, memory loss potions? It's all here."

"What exactly is this place?" I wondered.

"It's kind of a glorified storage center. Anything magical, dangerous, or powerful is kept here. The Grimms used to have the Hall of Wonders, but that was destroyed. Whoops, shouldn't have told you that. Anyway, pretty much anything you need, you could have here."

"What's the Hall of Wonders? How was it destroyed?"

"Your family doesn't like to talk about that. Anyway, it's not important, happened a long time ago. How'd you end up here, anyway? I didn't think your family would let you."

"Oh, umm…"I hadn't really thought that Mr. Mirror here would ask me that. Luckily, there was someone I could blame it on. "I didn't get permission. The puppies got into the sausage, so I can't leave," I said.

"The puppies got into the sausage? That's awful! Why don't you stay here for the night? I don't want anyone breathing in any puppy gas, 'cause I'm pretty sure that's toxic. Hey, where's the rest of your family?"

Oh, man. I had exposed my whole family to toxic waste. What if they died? Okay, maybe I'm being a little overdramatic. But still, that was stupid. And impulsive. But in my defense, I really hate being ignored. Trixie, my most oblivious friend, tells me I have athazagoraphobia, which is a fear of being ignored or forgotten. I don't like to think of myself that way, because I'm always being told that I have common sense.

Anyway, Harry led me to my room. "This is the Candy Suite," he announced proudly. "If you'll just look over here," he gestured like a tour guide, "You'll see that the headboard is genuine rock-candy encrusted gingerbread. The walls are made of chocolate bricks, held together with peppermint paste. But please, no consuming the furniture. Is this room suitable?" He smiled expectantly at me.

"Yeah," I said, dumbstruck by the room. "This is absolutely awesome."

Harry nodded. "Please let me know if there is anything I can do to make your stay more enjoyable." With that, he left me in the room.

I sat on the bed, trying to piece the whole thing together. Okay, so Harry was real, feeding the puppies sausages was a bad idea, resulting in toxic waste, and I still had no idea what happened to my family. Oh, wait a second, I'm so stupid! Why didn't I think of this before? I was so caught up in all this, I forgot I had my cell phone in my pocket.

I tried calling Daphne first. The phone rang. And rang. For some reason, though, I heard her ringtone coming from the closet. And Daphne's ringtone is the Gummy Bear song, so it's pretty hard to miss. I opened the closet. In the closet, there was a fridge. In the fridge, there were hundreds of half-eaten candy bars. Underneath the half-eaten candy bars, was Daphne's phone. "Oh, Daphne," I sighed. I tried my mom after that, but her phone was off. Then I tried my dad. Same thing as Mom. I called Sabrina, and I even called Red. Darn it. This meant I had to call…

I punched in the numbers, and heard a catch of the 'I know something gets on everybody's nerves' song.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Puck- WHY is that your ringtone?" Dad asked grouchily in the background.

"Well, I thought it was funny," Puck told him. "Who is this?" he asked me.

"It's me, Basil. Are you guys okay?" I asked.

I heard laughter in the background. "Oh, yeah, we're great, we all checked into a five star hotel in Manhattan," claimed Puck.

"What?" I asked. Surely I must have heard wrong.

"Just kidding," said Puck. "Where are you, anyway?" he asked.

I hesitated for a moment before I answered. They were probably already mad at me for the whole sausage thing, so they couldn't possibly get any madder, could they? I mean, there had to be a limit. What did I have to lose? "I'm in the mirror," I admitted. There was quiet at the other end. Then whispering. Finally, Daphne spoke up.

"Basil," she said in a quiet, serious tone that I'd never heard her use. "Two things. One: Why in hell would you give the puppies sausage? This isn't funny. And Two: Tell me honestly, what do you know?"

This wasn't good. I'd rarely seen Daphne angry. "Well," I said, deciding to be honest, 'I gave the puppies sausage because I'm tired of you ignoring me because you think I might find out. And I've already found out everything, so why don't you just go ahead and admit it? We're surrounded by fairytales. Why didn't you tell me?"

Okay, I realize that I sound like a total dick, and I was probably overreacting. But I did have a right to know.

"Okay, Basil," interrupted my mom. "I realize that you were confused and upset. And we'll explain everything when the smell clears out. But you're still grounded for two weeks when you get home. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I said. I guess I deserved the grounding. But one question was still unanswered. "Seriously, though, where are you guys?"

"Camping out in Charming's hallway," Mr. Canis muttered angrily.

"Oh. Sorry," I said apologetically.

"Wait, you're in the mirror, right?" asked Sabrina.

"Yeah, why?"

"Didn't Uncle Jake leave those roses here the last time? You know, the ones that Briar gave him?" she asked Daphne.

"I think so," remembered Daphne. "Oh wait, can't they overpower any scent?"

"Yes!" said Sabrina triumphantly. "Basil, go to Harry and ask him about the magic roses. Then, go out and wave them around the house. It'll get rid of the smell, and we can go back. Problem solved."

"That's a good idea," I stated. "Oh, and Daphne," I added, remembering, "I found your phone in the fridge in the Candy Suite, under a pile of Triple-Choco-Mega-Supreme-Marshmallow-Coco-Nutty-Waffle cone-Wafer Bars"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," said Daphne.

"You were eating those?" gasped my mother. "After the Coffee Incident?"

I shuddered at the memory, then hung up.

..~0~..

I found Harry and asked him about the roses. Sure enough, he gave them to me and they worked. I went through the house, waving them around. The smell vanished immediately. Then, I went outside to get some fresh air.

I heard a weird noise. Like… giant legs running. I looked up to see what it was, and sure enough, it was a pair of giant legs. Chicken legs. With a house attached and a creepy old lady with a bowl of cereal staring at me through the window.

"You stole my wands!" screamed the old lady.

"No! I didn't! I don't know what you're talking about! Who are you, anyway?" I yelled. She didn't answer. Instead, a giant bird flew up to me and shoved me through her window.

The house was disgusting. And its owner was worse. "Who are you, and what do you want?" I demanded.

"Don't pretend you don't know. I'm Baba Yaga, and you stole my wands!" she claimed.

"No, I didn't!" I protested.

"Maybe you didn't but your family definitely did. All you Grimms are untrustworthy. I'll keep you here until your family admits to their crime."

"And if they don't?" I asked, looking for a way out. She snapped her fingers, and ropes wrapped around my body.

"Then, you get eaten. But first, you absolutely _have_ to watch Days of Our Lives with me. Oh, and The Young and the Restless is next. And you'd better be quiet or I'll eat you."

She turned to the TV, and sure enough, the theme song for The Young and the Restless came on.

I was forced to watch soap opera after soap opera. It was torture. Hours and hours of emotional drama, divorce, kissing, arguing, affairs, birth, death, murder, kidnapping, surgery, and mental disorders. I had no idea what was going on half the time. And I'm not sure I wanted to, either. I kept looking for a way to escape, but I was completely tied up. And even if I did find a way, the witch would probably eat me before I could leave. I was trapped.

Authors' Note: **Is it just me, or does it feel like we haven't updated in forever? **_Thanks again to all the reviewers, we'll try to update soon. _**For some reason, this chapter was really hard for us to write. **

_~ Cerulean _and **Apocalypse=)**


	9. Chapter 9

Authors' Note: **Okay, I know we haven't updated in a really long time; about a week, I think.**_ So, here's the long awaited chapter 9. And don't worry, we aren't going to abandon this, because we really hate it when other people abandon stories. Also, we don't mean to offend anyone who watches soap operas. We only mock them because we can't follow them. _

_**We also hate: Mary Sues, Review Whores (People who say: if I don't get x reviews I won't update), Gary Stus, and tomatoes. But we don't mind: Constructive criticism and flames. **_**Also, we don't own the Sisters Grimm.**

Chapter 9

Hours passed. I nearly went insane, listening to all those mindless soap operas. I was tempted to start beating my head against the wall, but I was afraid that would annoy the witch and result in her eating me.

"NOOOO!" she screamed. "I can't believe it! Fregley died! Why must the good die young?"

I didn't really care who Fregley was, but her screaming snapped me out of my daydreaming. Suddenly, there was a tapping on the window and all the lights went out and the TV turned itself off.

"Darn it! Now I'll never know what happened to Wren, Tristan, and Sierra!" complained the witch.

I heard someone whispering my name. "Basil," whispered a voice. "It's Daphne. We've come to frank you out."

"What?" I whispered back.

"Frank. It's her new word," explained a voice I recognized as Sabrina's. "It means break, or remove."

The door burst open, letting in the sunlight. Baba Yaga screeched. "Who's there?" she demanded angrily. "Show yourselves!"

Sabrina and Daphne stepped through the door. "Hello, Baba Yaga," said Daphne. "How've ya been? I see you haven't redecorated. You really should have taken your advice. This dark-on-dark color scheme makes the room look smaller."

Baba Yaga snarled. "Why are you here? I'm not going to paint the place pink. I don't take advice from thieves."

"What did we do now?" asked Sabrina, sounding annoyed. "Why is it that whenever something goes wrong, you blame us? And why did you tie up Basil and force him to watch your damned soap operas?"

"Liar! You stole my wands. Who else do you think would do it? We all know that since the war, you've been trying to get back all of your magic items. Well, those wands were rightfully mine, and you're going to pay. I would have settled for just the boy, but now I think I'll have a Grimm family picnic." She giggled horribly. I wondered what war she was talking about.

"Look, Baba Yaga, I'll make you a deal. We'll find your wands, if you give us our brother back. Fair?" offered Sabrina.

"No! Sabrina, we all know you never have any intention of keeping your end of a bargain. I'll need some collateral. Give me the zither, the fiddle, and the flute!"

What? I had no idea what any of these things were. Sabrina and Daphne, however, seemed to understand.

"And if we find you wands, you'll give them back?" questioned Sabrina, clearly not believing the old witch.

"Of course. Have I ever given you reason not to trust me?" cackled the witch. Sabrina and Daphne exchanged glances.

"Well, there was the time that you kidnapped our little brother and made him watch soap operas," suggested Daphne sarcastically.

"You'll just have to trust me on this. Now, hand them over." Daphne sighed and handed over a flute, a fiddle, and a wooden board with strings stretching across it. I assumed that was the zither, but I wondered how she fit that all in her purse.

Meanwhile, Sabrina untied me quickly. "You got lucky this time, Basil. Come on, let's go home."

..~0~..

We ended up in the middle of the woods, completely lost. The house ran away on its chicken legs, and we were left standing there.

"Well, that's that," said Daphne, dusting off her jeans. She led us over to her blue Volkswagen Beetle.

"I really wish we'd taken my car," Sabrina grumbled.

"Can you please explain something to me?" I finally asked.

"What?" asked Daphne.

"Is she always like that?"

"Sabrina? No. She's usually—"I cut her off.

"I meant the witch. Is she always eating cereal and watching soap operas and threatening to eat people?"

"Yes," Sabrina replied. Her expression softened a little. "Look, Basil, I realize that this is a lot to take in, but you have to understand that this is dangerous. It isn't some fun game that we kept you from because we were having so much fun with it ourselves. I mean, yes, magic carpets are all very well and good, but there's also the cold harsh reality of cannibalistic witches. But it's not all bad. It's just a lot of responsibility and quick thinking."

As we pulled into the driveway, I thought this over. I think Sabrina was right, it wasn't all fun and games. But still, I'd prefer not to be left in the dark about something this important.

"Can I just ask one more thing?" I questioned.

"Well, you already asked a question, but I'll let you ask another," Daphne responded.

"What's with the zither, the fiddle, and the flute?"

"In _the Crimson Fairy Book _by Andrew Lang, there was a story called 'The Gifts of the Magician'. I won't go into detail about it now, but in it, a boy was about to be hung, and he played the zither, and the hangman was forced to dance. The next day, he played the fiddle, and the crowd had to dance. The third day, he played the flute, and the king danced. So basically, what they do is slow down any attackers. They're pretty useful, which is why Baba Yaga wanted them," explained Sabrina.

..~0~..

Back inside the house, I was sent to my room so that everyone else could have an important discussion. I was going to sneak over to the staircase and listen, but Sabrina caught me.

"Queen of Sneaks, remember?" she said before sending me back to my room.

Finally, I was called downstairs again to the living room.

"Basil," said my mom, "We've decided to let you in on this. We didn't want to, but we figured that it's better for you to know the facts from us rather than for you to figure it out on your own and possibly screw everything up."

I was insulted that they thought I'd screw it up, and even more insulted that my own mother said that to me, but at least they were going to tell me the truth.

"So here's the whole story," said my dad. "A few centuries ago, your great-great-great-great grandfather Wilhelm Grimm, along with his brother Jacob, wrote down fairy-tales. Back the, everyone knew of their existence. Cinderella could have been your neighbor, and it wasn't considered unusual for magical events to occur. The problem was that these fairy tale creatures, or Everafters, were causing problems. So Wilhelm decided to take all the Everafters from Europe and bring them here to Ferryport Landing. It was a rough journey, and when they arrived here, Jacob discovered plans to take over the next town." he went on and on about how he got Baba Yaga to put up a barrier along town. The barrier would prevent Everafters from leaving, and could only be destroyed if all the Grimms either left town or died. So far, we weren't dead, but a lot of people wanted us dead for that reason. I couldn't really blame them. If I was trapped here, I'd try to leave too.

I wondered how many Everafters I'd met and not realized. "How many Everafters are in this town, anyway?" I asked.

"Well, there are three in this house, not counting Harry, and about half the town is Everafter. Oh, and there are some in the city, too," explained Sabrina.

"Wait, so which three?" I asked.

"Puck is one, I guess you know about after what happened on New Years'. Mr. Canis is—was the Big Bad Wolf." So Daphne wasn't kidding when she wrote that. "And Red is Little Red Riding Hood."

Even though I had known Puck was a fairy for months now, I was in shock. They had just explained 14 years of lies to me.

"So hold on- Does that mean that Mayor Charming is Prince Charming?" I questioned.

They all nodded on agreement. "And his wife is Snow White," Daphne added.

"So that golfing ascot he has, does it have some sort of magical power?"

"No," Puck responded. "He's just into the world of high fashion menswear. Pansy," he scoffed.

I then remembered another question I had. "When Uncle Jake came for Christmas, he was yelling about sparkly pixies. I thought he was drunk, but he might have been talking about _Twilight_. Does that mean they're real?" I really, really, really hoped the answer was no.

"NO! God, no, Basil why did you even suggest that? Go to your room!" Sabrina screamed. The whole family shuddered in horror.

"He probably meant these pixies," Puck told me. He took a flute out of his pocket, blew a few notes, and those blinking lights that showed up on New Years' appeared. When I looked closer, they looked like small people, but with wings.

For a few more minutes, my family explained the world of Everafters to me. Then, I was sent to my room for suggesting that Twilight Vampires were real.

End of Chapter 9

Authors' Note: _Sorry for taking such a long time to update, and thanks to all the reviewers. _**We were really busy this week. Unfortunately, I'm also busy next week, so you shouldn't expect too many new chapters. I'm really, really, really sorry.**

_**Remember to review.**_

~_Cerulean _and **Apocalypse=)**


	10. Chapter 10

Authors' Note: _Sorry we took so long to update. But this time, we have a good excuse: There was an earthquake in our state. I'm dead serious, look it up on the news website. Luckily, no one got hurt. _**It's Tuesday. That reminds me of a dumb blond joke (No offense to blondes, because we know some intelligent blondes). It goes like this: A dumb blond walks into an elevator. She says, "T.G.I.F."The other person in the elevator goes, "S.H.I.T.". She says, "T.G.I.F.". He looks at her and goes very slowly, "S.H.I.T." She looks at him and says, "T.G.I.F. means 'Thank God it's Friday'." The guy goes, "S.H.I.T. means, 'Sorry honey, it's Tuesday'." **_**Disclaimer: We do not own the Sisters Grimm.**_

Chapter 10

I had no intention of even bothering to look for the wands. I mean, the witch had the fiddle, the flute, and the slither or whatever it was called. Besides, I was on vacation, and my family had just admitted what they'd tried to keep a secret from me. So excuse me for not wanting to waste my time.

Unfortunately, that did not stop Red from coming into my room at six-thirty in the morning and banging pots and pans together. I should probably mention that I'm not a morning person.

"Red! What was that for?" I complained.

"Daphne told me to wake you up," she said, shrinking backwards.

"Why?"

"She said that if you want to be included in this, you have to learn everything and take responsibility for your actions."

Red turned and ran out of the room. I sighed and stumbled out of bed and into the kitchen, where Daphne had made raspberry, macadamia nut, and pineapple waffles.

"Morning, Basil," said Mom. She looked at me in a concerned way.

"Morning, Mom," I replied. Across the table, Dad, Sabrina, and Daphne kept glancing at me like I was going to sprout a second head or something. I guess they were expecting me to react somehow to what they confessed last night. Luckily, the awkward silence was broken when Red came in, added syrup to her waffles, and then screamed.

"WHY IS THE SYRUP MOVING?"

"Don't mind that," said Daphne, coming back from wherever she had been spacing out into. "It's Mongolian death worm intestines ground up into a delicious syrup. Don't worry, they're not poisonous. Although it appears that the company didn't grind them up well enough."

I was too grossed out to continue eating, so I went to get dressed. For some reason, though, when I opened my closet door, I found a biohazard suit. I went back down.

"Why is this in my closet?" I asked Puck.

"Apparently, you're going searching in the toxic underground mines today for the wands that Baba Yaga wanted," he said matter-of-factly. I waited to see if he was joking. He wasn't.

Sabrina came in. "Oh, so you're going today? Watch out for the trolls."

"Why are there trolls in Ferryport Landing?" I asked. "I thought fairy-tale creatures were all nice princesses and fairies and cute talking animals!"

Puck and Sabrina exchanged incredulous glances, and then burst out laughing. "Really? Haven't you met the Gingerbread Man?" asked Puck, who was laughing so hard he fell off his chair.

"What about the Queen of Hearts?" giggled Sabrina, clutching her side.

"What about Puck's mother?" Daphne asked, coming over.

I started laughing at this, but stopped when I realized that I was the only one. The rest just shook their heads.

"Oh, Basil? You should probably wear that. The trolls aren't very nice," added Daphne. "Sometimes, if you're lucky, they'll just sing show tunes, but if you aren't they'll eat your toes."

Great. My first experience as a fully realized Grimm would consist of show tune singing, toe-eating trolls.

..~0~..

Daphne, Sabrina, and I hiked through mountains of garbage and other junk. It was really disgusting.

"So," I started, trying to break the ice, "do these trolls have a story, or are they just magic?"

Sabrina shoved some trash behind her, and it hit me. "Yeah, they're part of the colony of trolls from the 3 Billy Goats Gruff. Did you know that story was Norwegian?" She and Daphne hiked forward.

"There was a whole colony of trolls?" I asked.

"Yep," Daphne replied. "When Peter Christen Asbjornsen and Jorgen Moe recorded the story, they were about to write that part, but then the trolls ate their toes. They threatened that if they completed the story, they would eat their fingers." Lovely. I was searching for a buch of wooden sticks where trolls could eat my fingers. Daphne then stepped up on more garbage, only to have a pile fall on me. This was not my day.

..~0~..

Hours later, we had made no progress in the search for the wands. "I don't really think a bunch of trolls would steal the wands," I stated. "Why are we even looking here?"

Daphne sighed. "Well, it's a good place to start. Also, Baba Yaga might have accidentally dropped then down the drain again." I gave her a quizzical look. "She keeps mistaking them for spoons. It's flircky." This time, Sabrina gave her a look, too. "_Flircky_ means weird and frustrating."

"Plus, if Baba Yaga dropped them down the drain, the trolls would have taken them. They love shiny things," Sabrina added.

"Still, I don't think the trolls stole them. They're a little dense," I said.

"Okay, that's true," admitted Sabrina. "But if the trolls didn't who do you think did?"

"I don't know," I replied. "Maybe another witch?"

"Maybe," said Daphne. "But which witch?"

Suddenly, I heard singing. Really bad singing.

"SHHH!" hissed Sabrina, yanking us into a corner as two trolls skipped by. One had blue hair, and the other had pink hair.

"Popular, I know about popular , It's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed, so it's very shrewd to be, very very popular, like ME!" they crooned. It was without a doubt the worst singing I'd ever heard. It was worse than my friend Jeff's impression of Sarah Brightman.

The two trolls skipped away. "Wait. Are the Wizard of Oz characters real?" I asked hesitantly. They both nodded. Daphne smiled.

"It's time to see Glinda!" she said cheerfully.

..~0~..

After we got cleaned off, we went to see Glinda the Good Witch. "So what happened the the Wicked Witch of the West? Did she die?" I asked.

"Of course. But she wasn't really that bad. Didn't you ever see _Wicked_? It was really just a misunderstanding. At first, everyone thought that _Wicked _was just made up by humans, but it turned out that the facts from the play were all right. Glinda confirmed it," explained Sabrina.

We turned into a driveway and got out of the car. The house was bright red and quite large. Daphne knocked on the door, but it turned out to be open.

"Glinda?" called Sabrina. "Are you there?"

No answer. "That's strange," said Daphne. "Her car is here, but where…" she trailed off.

"Daphne? Is something wrong?" I asked.

"I think I found her," said Daphne in a shaky voice. I turned to see. A woman lay dead on the floor, surrounded by various sticks, which I assumed were the missing wands. Something red covered the floor, but it wasn't blood. It was fresh paint, dripping down the walls. I followed the trail up and experienced the odd sensation that people call déjà vu.

Because there was a bright red handprint on the wall, and over it were the words, 'The Scarlet Hand Lives'.

End of Chapter 10

Authors' Note: And now, we will respond to reviews. **I call this: Lea And Cal Read Reviews. **Those aren't our real names, just part of our pennames.

RockstarGurl4444: **Glad you liked how we did Baba Yaga. **_I was afraid of overdoing the whole 'Make fun of her soap opera' thing, but I'm glad it turned out okay._

RockSuperstar: **Thanks for the compliments. As always, they were uplifting and nice to read. **

3Austin3yee3: _This comment sparked a major debate between Cal and me. I am all for the Puckabrina fluff, but they can't have a cousin because poor Briar Rose is dead and Jake still loves only her. If you meant niece/nephew, the answer's still no, because 1. The poor kid would turn out so screwed up that we can't even bring ourselves to imagine it, and 2. Sabrina will be involved in a lot of the action, so that would hinder the plot. It's a good idea, but not for this story, in my opinion. _**Frankly, I want them to at least adopt a kid. So what if it ends up crazy? I'm crazy. **So you see, you have caused issues between two siblings and now we need sibling therapy… just kidding.

Evil Scrapbooker: _Thank you for the detailed review. We felt we needed to add some humor at the end, to balance the story. _**We are glad you like the soap opera names. We like funny names. Fregley was a name we took from Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This is not product placement, people. **_There are going to be some pretty weird names in our story, including but not limited to: Cilantro, Elvendork, Alabaster, Moonbeam, Amaryllis, and Azmuth. _


	11. Chapter 11

Authors' Note: _ The last chapter was kind of a cliffhanger, and I'm sorry if that bothered you. _**Fortunately, there will not be too many cliffhangers this week. Why, you ask? A hurricane is coming. Yes, we know, the other day it was an earthquake, and now it's a hurricane. Hurricane Irene is coming. **_We do not own the Sisters Grimm._

Chapter 11

When you find a good witch who then became bad but apparently turned good again lying dead on the floor of her house, followed by a mark that stirs your earliest memories, it shakes you up a little. I have a feeling that the mark meant more for Sabrina and Daphne than it did for me, because on the way back, they kept whispering ominously.

"Do you think they're really back?" Sabrina whispered to Daphne.

"I don't know. Maybe….. a prank?" replied Daphne.

"But why would…" I couldn't hear the rest of her sentence. I did, however, hear my name mentioned several times.

"Well, what should we do now?" I asked, breaking the silence. Sabrina turned to look at me.

"First things first," she said, becoming businesslike, as if she did this every day. "We bring the wands back to Baba Yaga and tell her what happened. Then, we go back to the house and explain to everyone. We need to see if this is legit, or just a prank."

"A twisted prank," Daphne muttered.

"So, we'll start tomorrow," said Sabrina. Wait. Did she say tomorrow? _Tomorrow_?

"But tomorrow's Easter!" protested Daphne. "What about the candy? We have plenty of time to search afterwards. No need to panic."

"I'm not panicking, I'm just planning!" insisted Sabrina. "We need to be prepared."

"No, we don't," I said. I didn't know what was going on, or what this Scarlet Hand crap meant, but I didn't see any need to jump to conclusions. "If these people are being that obvious," I continued, "Then obviously, they're not good at planning. So if they are a threat, it's not gonna be for a while."

Daphne nodded. "Basil's making a good point. And again, what about the candy!"

"Daphne, you're acting like a seven year old. Basil, you're probably right, but we still have to take precautions and tell everyone. I don't want it to end up like last time!"

"There was a last time?" I asked. They were silent. Sabrina looked like she was about to hyperventilate.

"Shoot. I shouldn't have said that."

"Yes, there was, but it's not important right now," Daphne said quickly, trying to cover up for Sabrina's mistake.

"Well, I'll drop you two off at the house, and then I'll go find Baba Yaga and give her the wands back before she goes nuts and tries to eat us," said Sabrina firmly.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. No one wants to get eaten," agreed Daphne.

..~0~..

Sabrina left us standing in the driveway, and her red SUV reversed and sped away, as if she was trying to ditch us. Which I guess she was.

Daphne and I went outside and I tried to worm the answers out of her. What did Sabrina mean when she said that there was a 'last time'? What was the big deal about the Scarlet hand, anyway? But Daphne refused to crack. She said that I would find out in good time and that I shouldn't worry. So we played Monopoly. Which seemed kind of strange, like: oh hey, we just found a dead body. Let's play a game!

Apparently, Mom, Dad, Red, and Mr. Canis were all off somewhere else, Puck was at work. That reminded me something. I still didn't know if Puck was really a dentist, or in the mafia.

"Hey Daphne, is Puck really a dentist, or is that just a cover story?" I asked.

"Yeah, he is. Why?"

"I don't know. It seems a little odd for someone like him."

"Yeah, I was surprised too. But then he found out how profitable it was. Apparently he enjoys causing pain and misery and getting paid for it. Why, what did you think he did?" she asked.

Oh, this was awkward. "Mafia," I mumbled, totally embarrassed. To my surprise, she nodded as if this was reasonable.

"Well, if you met his family, that's not surprising. If I didn't know better, I'd think his mom was some kind of mob mistress. I mean, she dressed like one. And it's really lucky you didn't meet his dad. Then you would have thought for sure that he was in the Mafia."

"Uh-huh," I said thoughtfully. "Hey, can I buy Park Avenue?"

"No way, little brother."

..~0~..

So yeah, that was yesterday. Today, though, was Easter. Every year, there's a big Easter Egg Hunt in the town square. I'm a little old for it, but afterwards, there's the Egging Festival. Basically, it's just a bunch of people gathered onto the soccer filed behind the school, wearing protective covering so you hardly know who's who, and trying to hit as many people as possible with eggs. Not real eggs, just large paintballs. So, yeah, it's cool.

I saw Robert, Daniella, and Marvin standing together, and I went to join them.

"Hi, guys," I said. "You seen Rose?"

"She's not coming," said Daniella. "See, her dad says that the Egging Festival is 'barbaric', and a sport for 'commoners'. But hey, you know about Everafters now, right? Well, most people in this town are royalty, and they still go. Like me."

Robert nodded. "It's true." It looked like he was about to say something else, but someone in all black ran up to us and interrupted.

"Okay let's do this!" the person exclaimed. We looked at the figure.

"Do we know you?" I asked.

The person took off a pair of dark sunglasses. "It's me, Rose," she said. It's an awkward moment when you realize that you didn't recognize one of your friends.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Marvin asked her. "You look like a ninja."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Rose said gravely. She took a step into the sun and unzipped her coat, revealing a….very interesting dress.

It was a light pink dress, decked with ruffles and purple glitter. It had puffy sleeves and a giant rhinestone-studded ribbon at the back. Basically it looked like a dress a 5-year-old's parents would force them to wear. Sadly, the sun's rays managed to hit every sparkly thing on the dress, making it nearly blinding.

"AAAAAGGHHHHHHH! MY EYES!" Robert wailed as he fell to the ground.

"Stop being so dramatic," Rose muttered, clearly embarrassed. She put her coat back on and adjusted her sunglasses. Then, the Egging Festival began.

I tell you, this was not something for the faint-hearted. It was an all out battle; the survival of the fittest; a war, even. I shot paintball after paintball after paintball, but they kept coming. It was epic. Unfortunately, I was taken out.

Finally, there were only two people left on the field. One of them was Marvin, and the other was some scrawny kid I didn't know. They tried to shoot each other continuously, and eventually, the kid fell to the ground. Marvin strode up to him and stared down with a glint of craziness in his eye. And then, the final shot of the Egging Festival was fired.

But not by Marvin. The scrawny kid had won.

..~0~..

Marvin in was what some called a 'sour-pussy pickle mood'. Although, in hindsight, it didn't really help that we were teasing him. But seriously, Marvin isn't exactly small or weak. It was a little sad that he was beaten by a kid who didn't look much older than 9.

"I'm never gonna let you forget that, Marvin," Robert laughed.

We then got into an argument about whether or not we smelled like eggs. Yes, they were paintball eggs, but did we smell like eggs? None of us were really sure.

So, yeah, that's how I spent my Easter.

End of Chapter

Authors' Note: **First, we've got some important things to say.**

_1) We may not be able to update for a few days, because there is a hurricane coming to our town, and we might lose power._** Yes, we know; 2 days ago there was an earthquake, and now, a hurricane. **_This is not a good week for our town._

_**2)**_** Cilantro will appear in the next chapter.**

**3) Reading Reviews with Lea and Cal**

RockstarGurl444: **Glad you liked the ending! **_Thanks for reading._

RockSuperstar:_ Sorry, I wasn't really thinking when we wrote about the play because we stupidly forgot not everyone has seen it. But anyway, Wicked is basically a prequel to the Wizard of Oz, except it explains that the Wicked Witch of the West was really good, and everything she did to Dorothy was because of a misunderstanding. So both the book and the movie are correct._

Evil Scrapbooker: **We were the trolls! **_Thanks for reading and reviewing._

reviewer (the flaming ReViEwEr): _Your review was quite amusing. _**And now that I think about it, you're right; the only trolls that sing are from Dora. Still, the trolls will sing for comic relief, should we bring them back. **_The only thing that confuses me about your review: If you thought the first chapter was bad, why did you keep reading? I mean, that was kind of stupid of you. _**Cerulean just insulted someone! Some one write it down! History was made today! **

**Well, that's all for now.**

~_Cerulean _and **Apocalypse=)**


	12. Chapter 12

Authors' Note:** Well, we didn't die in Hurricane Irene. **_Nothing happened to us at all. _**Really, it was pretty much like all the other hurricanes for us: rain, wind, etc. And now, on with chapter 12.**

Chapter 12

The day after Easter, which was today, Rose came over. She was with Robert and Daniella. I guess Marvin decided not to come, because he's probably still sulking about the Egging Festival. Rose was looking at Robert and Daniella. She had that creepy grin on her face again.

"Hey, Basil," she greeted me. Then she looked around furtively like she was trying not to be seen. She whispered, "Hey, don't Robert and Daniella look like they like each other?"

I glanced over. They were definitely exchanging glances and smiling, but not in a romantic way. They were looking at each other like they were up to something.

"I guess… Maybe they're trying to hide that they like each other?" I guessed halfheartedly. Robert and Daniella were my friends, but honestly, I didn't really like to meddle with people's personal stuff.

"I have an idea," she whispered back excitedly. "See, they kept slipping off to be alone together, and when they came back, they looked all giggly and embarrassed like they'd been having a personal conversation. Don't they look like that? I heard a rumor that they could be dating."

"Oh, that's cool." I couldn't think of anything else to say. Rose apparently had a weakness for gossip. This should have been obvious to me a long time ago.

"Anyway, I think we should let them have some alone time. What do you think?"

I wanted to say no. But Rose looked so excited that I felt guilty, and said, "Sure, why not?"

Rose giggled excitedly. "Hey, guys? We're just going to go outside and… find my keys. I think I dropped them."

"Do you need help?" inquired Daniella.

"No, I think Basil and I got this." She dragged me out of the house.

"Now what?" I asked. "Do we just stand here and wait?"

"Of course not," said Rose. "Let's go to the woods."

I followed her, and we wandered around, having the most random conversations.

"Hey Basil, have you ever climbed the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center?" she asked.

"Isn't that illegal?"

"It wasn't always illegal. I did it once, but that's why it's illegal now."

I raised my eyebrows. "And when was this?"

"1938."

I must have heard wrong. "What?"

"I climbed it in 1938. I guess I should mention: I'm older than I look," she explained awkwardly.

"And how old would that be?" I asked hesitantly, not really sure that I wanted to know.

"It's rude to ask a lady her age, Basil. Didn't your mother ever tell you that?" she asked, snickering.

"Sorry, I just wondered."

"It's okay. And I was born during my parents' first marriage, before Dad went and married all those other women."

This was getting weirder and weirder. I decided to change the subject. "Hey, were you around when the Cyclone was built?" I questioned, referring to the famous wooden roller coaster in Coney Island.

"Maybe," she replied coyly.

"What do you mean, maybe?" I asked, curious.

"Well… Are you sure you want to know? Okay, for a really long time, I refused to age, because I have Everafter blood, so I can do that. I looked like a seven year old for a really long time. And when the Cyclone was built, I still looked seven. Anyway, at the time I lived with Hans Christian Andersen's descendants. So, being seven, I looked too young to get on during the daytime, when it was open. But at night, I—" Rose was cut off by a strange noise, kind of between a bird and a large cat.

"What was that?" I wondered.

"I don't know for sure. It sounded like an animal."

"Maybe a cat?"

Rose looked around. "Let's follow it and see what it is," she suggested. I followed her deeper into the woods. Then, between an oak tree and a beech, there was a weird animal playing in a patch where some strange herb grew. The animal unlike anything I'd ever seen. It was only about three feet long, but it had really big teeth and a lizard like body. As if that wasn't enough, it had wings, too.

Rose caught her breath. "A Jabberwocky," she whispered. Fear was etched into her face. "We have to get out. They're really dangerous." She began to walk away slowly, but of course I stepped on a twig and it snapped. The thing looked up and made a soft cat/bird noise. It walked right up to us. My heart was pounding in terror. I did not want that thing coming near me.

"Jabberwocky?" it asked. Then, it came right up to Rose and dropped something at her feet. It was a deer bone. It looked up expectantly. She looked confused, but I picked it up. I hoped this thing was like a dog.

"Want the bone, boy? Want the bone? Fetch!" I called, and threw the bone as hard as I could. The thing flew away and returned a few seconds later with the bone. Rose looked a bit surprised. I handed her the bone. She threw it, and the Jabberwocky brought it back. She smiled.

"You know, he's actually kind of cute," she said to me.

"Cute? Seriously?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Okay, not really, but it's not so bad. He seems pretty tame. And look!" She pointed at the Jabberwocky, which was rolling in the patch of herbs. "It's playing in the cilantro!"

I had to admit, it was kind of funny to see something so scary acting so harmless, but I couldn't exactly come home and say, 'Hello family, I found a deadly animal playing in the woods, but don't worry, it's playful!'. That would be wrong.

"We should keep him!" suggested Rose.

"How? I don't think anyone would really let him in the house."

"True, but I could keep him in my house."

"I think it would be a better idea to just leave him here and visit him once in a while," I suggested.

"That's kind of harsh, don't you think?" she asked.

"So you're keeping a deadly animal as a pet," I said. "Are you sure you're that old? Because that sounds like something a seven year old would do."

"Hey, I was seven for a long time. And the only reason I stayed that way was because I refused to think like an adult. So technically, I do have the brain of a fourteen year old, I just happen to have seen more."

I realized that this was an argument I could not win, so I gave up. "Fine, keep it. Do you even have a name for it?"

I realize that this should be the last of my concerns, but I was curious as to what a person with a name like Rosalina Helena Sapphira White-Charming would name a deadly animal that wasn't all that deadly.

"Cilantro," she replied firmly.

..~0~..

I was never sure of how Rose managed to take a Jabberwocky home. When I got back to the house alone, Robert and Daniella were still there.

"Hi guys," I said, afraid I might have interrupted something. Evidently, I had not.

"Hey Basil, we were just going to look for you and Rose," said Robert.

"Did she find her keys?" asked Daniella.

"No, but we found a Jabberwocky."

"WHAT?"

"I know that's probably a bad thing, but don't worry, it's really friendly. We named it Cilantro." At that, Robert fell over laughing, and Daniella just looked at me incredulously.

"You realize that this is a huge problem, right? I should probably find my father and tell him to call out the Knights of the Round Table to slay it!" she exclaimed.

"No, really, it is friendly. And wait, your dad is a Knight of the Round Table?" I asked.

"Actually, he's King Arthur, but that's besides the point. You're sure it's friendly?" Daniella asked again.

"Yes, I'm sure. It plays fetch."

"Oh, okay," she seemed to relax. Then the phone rang. I answered.

"Hello?"

"Basil, it's Rose. Have you seen my keys?"

"Um, no."

End of Chapter

Authors' Note: **Well, it's Monday. **_So what did you think? Leave constructive criticism, praise, flames*, anything. _

_*Will be used to roast marshmallows_*****_. _

***Do we even have marshmallows? **_Shut up. _

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

Evil Scrapbooker: _That was exactly what I thought when I read the flame. It wasn't really much of a flame, but seriously, why did he/she bother reading the next few chapters if he/she hated the first one? _**It was quite pointless. We love hearing your opinions, though. **_Thank you for explaining to the flamer. _

TricksterPrincess4000 _: __we do live in New York, but not the city. __**We hope you were okay during the hurricane. **_

loverofbooks4eva: _I would also cry if Twilight vampires were real. _**Are they even real vampires?**_ They're an insult to good vampire stories (Like The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Dracula)__**Anyway, we both hope you were safe in the hurricane. **_

RockSuperstar:  Wicked **was a book? I had no idea. **_Anyway, we're glad you liked it. _**If we had known it was a book, we'd have done research on it. **_We hope you like this chapter too._

yorkie999777000: **I pretty much died laughing at your review. The flaming reviewer probably does watch Telly Tubbies. **_Maybe he/she watches Barney& Friends, too. LOL. I loved that show… when I was in kindergarten. _


	13. Chapter 13

Authors' Note: _Sorry for the delay. The door to the room where we keep the computer was locked, and we couldn't find the key. _**So, it's been a while, and we have even more terrible news: School starts this week (Cue funeral music) ;( So that means less frequent updates. **_However, we won't give up on this story, we'll keep writing. Disclaimer: We do not own the Sisters Grimm. _**We do own flircky.**

Chapter 13

The day after we found Cilantro, I realized that Sabrina and Daphne were nowhere to be found. They left a note. It said:

Gone to look for evidence of the Scarlet Hand's return. They're being flircky. Be back in… we're not really sure. Sorry for the short notice, but it has to be done.

~ S + D

I wonder where they were. But no one seemed to know. That wasn't what worried me, though; I knew they could take care of themselves. What worried me was that if they were leaving on such short notice, this Scarlet Hand must be a serious threat. I wondered who knew what that was.

I decided to look in one of the journals for any possible evidence. I found Dad's old journal, but I couldn't find anything about in there. Before I could do anything else, the phone rang. It was Rose.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Basil, it's me. Listen, I took Cilantro to my house yesterday, and—"

"Don't tell me. He burned it down, didn't he?"

"No," she whispered. "Worse. He ate my father—"

"WHAT?"

"You didn't let me finish. He ate my father's golfing ascot."

I relaxed. "So?"

She sounded angry. "What do you mean, 'so'? He ate the freakin' golfing ascot! Do you know how attached my father is to that thing? He takes it to be dry cleaned every week! It has its own special closet! A whole freakin' closet, just for one ascot! We're dead!"

Oh, damn. I didn't want to die. "Listen, Rose, I know it looks bad, but can't you just order another one?"

"I guess so, but they only made them in Milan. It would take over a week to get here."

"Look, just see if it can wait until then. Maybe you can lock the closet door and say that the key is gone? Anyway, I gotta go. Bye."

I hung up, feeling slightly guilty. But I think the Scarlet Hand problem was more important than the problem of Cilantro the Jabberwocky consuming the mayor's chartreuse and maroon argyle golfing ascot. Wasn't it?

I kept looking through the journals. I finally found one that said: Fairy Tale Encounters: Relda Grimm. I had few memories of Granny Relda. She'd died suddenly when I was four, just before the Coffee Incident. I don't remember exactly how she died, but my parents told me that it was heart failure. I looked through it. There were several mentions of the Scarlet Hand. The last entry read:

_We finally discovered the leader of the Scarlet Hand; it was Mirror all along. Lately, he had been getting a lot of help from Pinocchio. He had promised the poor boy that, if he helped him, Pinocchio would be allowed into the Book of Everafter to change his story. Although Mirror held his end of the bargain, Sabrina, Puck, and Daphne jumped in after him. They haven't returned._

_Henry and Veronica want to follow them into the book, but I believe it's risky. It may be a long time before we find them. Also, the Editor has a strong grudge against the Grimm family. Still, I fear that we may have to enter the Book. Hopefully, we can find Sabrina, Puck, and Daphne before any harm can come to them. _

_But I can't help but wonder exactly what Mirror is planning. He had access to all of our magical artifacts, but now they are all gone from the Hall of Wonders. Despite this, I still cannot believe that he was able to fool us for so long. _

There was that Hall of Wonders again. I remember Harry mentioning it. And now, there was a guy named Mirror, who evidently guarded it and was the leader of the Hand. I wonder what happened to him.

..~0~..

Later that evening, Sabrina and Daphne showed up. They looked tired, dirty, battered, and irritated.

"So, do you mind telling us where you where?" asked Mom disapprovingly.

"Looking for a lead to the Scarlet Hand," explained Daphne.

"You could have told us," said Dad. Sabrina and Daphne exchanged half exasperated, half amused glances.

"Sorry, we didn't think of that. But we did get a lead on the Scarlet Hand," Sabrina offered.

Red looked interested. "What is it?"

"Well, we don't know how important it is," stated Daphne, "But has anyone ever heard of the notebook of Ehrich Weiss?"

"WHO?" we all asked.

"Better known as Harry Houdini?"

"Oh."

"The greatest escape artist of all time," said Sabrina almost reverently. "Also less commonly known for his associations with Everafters."

"And what of him?" asked Mr. Canis. "Are you saying that he's alive?"

"No, that's silly," said Daphne. "But he apparently left a notebook full of escape methods. Magical escape methods, too."

So that was their lead? It didn't strike me as very important… Wait a minute.

"So they're still looking for a way out of Ferryport Landing," said Puck, finally looking interested.

"And they think that this book has the answers?" asked Dad.

"Well, that's what we think," Sabrina admitted.

"Wait a second. How do you know this?" I demanded.

"Uh… we may have broken into Heart's house," muttered Sabrina. Mom and Dad put on their most disapproving looks. Puck laughed.

"You piggies just can't stay out of trouble, can you?"

"We try," Sabrina claimed. "It just seems to love us, though."

"And it really wasn't our idea," explained Daphne. "It's actually a long story. See, we ran into the Scarecrow on the way into town. And he started telling us about how the Mad Hatter refused to pay his library fees. Apparently he took out a book called Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type. So then the Hatter showed up, and he was wearing a pink prom dress. It got caught on one of the book shelves, and the shelf fell down. The Scarecrow got buried, and the Hatter ran off. We caught him, and he said that the only reason he forgot to pay the library fines was because Bluebeard was up to his old tricks."

"Meaning?" I asked.

"Marrying random women and killing them," explained Puck.

"Anyway," continued Sabrina, "We had to check that out, so after we made the Mad Hatter clean up, we went to see Bluebeard. He tried to make Daphne marry him."

"But he's a psychopath," said Mom.

"You didn't, did you?" asked Dad.

"Of course not. He's old," reassured Daphne.

"So I used my ninja star on him," Sabrina said. "Then, we forced him to tell us what happened to his last bride. He said that she divorced him and moved across town the day after. Apparently, she was the Snow Queen and she had to get back to her ice cream truck business. Of course, somebody insisted that we check that out," Sabrina gave Daphne a look.

"I didn't know if he was lying or not!" protested Daphne. "How was I supposed to know we would get in a low-speed chase with her and get pelted with ice cream? We didn't even get to eat it!"

At this point, everyone was on the floor laughing.

"So we passed Heart's house, and we decided to hide out there. We remembered that she was part of the original Hand, so we decided to have a look around. We crawled down the chimney and looked through her sock drawer. Under a pile a of love letters from Nottingham, we found a to do list. It had things on it like: update wardrobe, reject Nottingham, plot against Charming, and, at the bottom of the list, Scarlet Hand meeting today 4 o'clock. Discussion topics: Harry Houdini's notebook."

"How did you get all dirty?" Red asked. I was curious too.

"Okay, first, we crawled out of the window and fell into a bush. It would have been fine, except some idiot left a bunch of needle nose pliers in it. Then, we realized that the car was out of gas. So we went to the new gas station, and when we went inside to pay, this guy tried to sell us coffee with jalapeno cookies. We told him that we didn't want any. I mean, jalapeno cookies?" asked Sabrina. "That's just wrong. So we got into a fight with him, and then, we pushed him in the mud. Then, he started mud wrestling with another guy."

"I'm sorry I asked!" Red exclaimed.

"Sure you don't want to hear the rest of the story?" asked Daphne.

"We're sure!" I interjected.

"Fine," sighed Sabrina. "I'm going to bed." Puck followed her.

"You know, I don't think you've ever looked more beautiful," he told her. I saw her roll her eyes, but I think she smiled, too.

End of Chapter

Authors' Note: _So very sorry for the delay. _**I'm having another midlife crisis, and I'm not even 20. **_Again, we're really sorry and we'll try to do better. Also, school starts tomorrow,(9/7/11) so good luck to those who are being forced to return._

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

The Flaming Reviwer: _Not that we mind getting flamed (It's actually kind of fun), but if the story bothers you that much, then don't read it. But, if you're going to flame, you're going to have to do better than that. Be more creative with your insults. LOL.__**Also, we're sorry if we offended you with the Dora/Barney/Telly tubbies comments. That was wrong. **_**Name calling doesn't solve anything, BTW. The last time someone called me a bitch, I received a stuffed dolphin.**

RockSuperstar: **Thanks for the review. **_We__kind of had to make Rose older, because if she was Basil's age, she'd have been around during the time the books take place. _**Also, we didn't know that Charming had kids with Sleeping Beauty. They might appear in the story now. **_Actually, you got me thinking. Charming probably has a lot of other kids… That would make an interesting story. Thanks._

loverofbooks4eva: **Yeah, the Jabberwocky thing wasn't necessary, but we needed some Basil/Rose fluff. **_Plus, we thought it would be funny._

Alcoholic Goldfish:_ Cool penname. _**The Scarlet hand has got a brand new plan that's super cool and awesome and I really don't know how we came up with it. Also, they kind of did do something about Glinda. **_Thanks for pointing out Puck's OOCness. We'll try to work on it. _Thanks for reviewing.

Cool-Bean82: _We're glad you like Rose. _**Also, Basil and Rose have kissed… **_Well, not romantically…_** but they have other stuff coming up. **

Evil Scrapbooker: **We're glad you like the Easter idea. We're also sorry that your power went out. **_And yes, that's how we wanted Rose to come off: at first you think she's all quirky and soft, but she's actually smart. Really smart. You'll see that side again in a later chapter. _

yorkie999777000: _**you're welcome **_____


	14. Chapter 14

Authors' Note: **Good morning, readers. I'm waiting for Cerulean to get here…. Waiting….Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting….Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Waiting…. Finally!**

**Cerulean, how nice of you to come.**_ Sorry for failing to update. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy, and don't forget to review. Disclaimer: We do not own the Sister Grimm._

Chapter 14

After finding out a clue to what could possibly lead to preventing the return of an evil organization, I was forced to go back to the city, because, according to my parents, 'School is more important than hunting for the Scarlet Hand'. Stupid, I know.

Anyway, I figured that I'd make the best of it and do more research on the Hand. So I looked in the journals. This was a bit of an issue at first. I gathered that the Scarlet Hand action was at its peak during the time my parents were kidnapped, so their journals were no help. Daphne wrote all about it, but it was hard to understand her writing. One minute, she'd write a few things about the Scarlet Hand; the next, she'd give us her latest princess encounter in extreme detail. Plus, she used all of her made up words, so it didn't make sense. Sabrina's was easier to understand, but she didn't write much at all. Most of it was about my parents' disappearance and rants about Puck's pranks.

Finally, I found Granny Relda's. That worked out better. From her journals, I learned about how the Scarlet Hand tried to break out of Ferryport Landing by tunneling under the elementary school, how Red was insane and owned an evil Jabberwocky, and how Puck's father was murdered.

I also learned that my parents were in an enchanted sleep for two years, and that they woke up when Goldilocks kissed my father. So that's why Dad was avoiding her at the Christmas party. Apparently, during all this, they were completely unaware of my existence, because I'd apparently been kidnapped by a mirror. It's a little creepy to find out that for the first two years of your life, you were raised by an evil mirror-dweller.

After finding this out, I felt the need to go and do something else. So I found myself in the Golden Egg. After I'd been there for a few minutes, Jill showed up.

"Oh, hey Basil," she said, sounding uncharacteristically nice.

"Hi," I said cautiously. I didn't want to ruin her good mood, since they were so rare.

"So, what are you doing here?"

Who the hell was this perky girl, and what had she done with Jill? "Nothing much. I was just looking for information about the Scarlet Hand."

Her eyes glinted sharply. "Why do you want to know?"

I shrugged. "Just wondering. Anyway…" I racked my brains for a subject changer. "How was your vacation?"

She snickered. "It was… interesting. See, Aaron was convinced he'd heard something about Bigfoot being sighted by multiple Canadians. So he decided to go, and he convinced me, Jeff, Amy, and Trixie to go. He'd probably have made you come, too, but you were away. So we went along, not because we believed him, but we were all really bored. We ended up lost in the Canadian wilderness for a few hours. Then, Aaron thought he saw Bigfoot, but it turned out to be this tall guy in an Easter bunny suit. The guy turned out to be an escaped fugitive, and we called in the police and he got arrested. Then, they got us first class plane tickets to New York." She giggled. "But enough about us. How was your vacation?"

"Um, it was good. I did the Egging Festival with Rose. You know, Charming's daughter?"

Jill looked confused. "Which one?"

Now I was confused. "Wait, what do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, you must have heard about him and the _other_ women. He's got like,-" She stopped for a minute and counted on her fingers. "About… I guess… forty? And that's not counting sons. There's like…" She started to count, but I cut her off, not entirely sure I wanted to know.

"Rose. You know, Snow White's daughter? Black hair, blue eyes, really pretty?"

"Oh, I know her! You mean Rosalina Helena Sapphira White-Charming, right? And I was joking about the forty daughters and more sons. I think he's got about fifteen kids in total. Most of them are still in Europe."

"Oh. That's… interesting." I really didn't know what to say about that. I didn't want to know, either. I tried to change the subject again. "So, you're an Everafter. Which one?"

She raised her eyebrows. "You haven't guessed? Jill. You know, from the nursery rhyme? 'Jack and Jill went up the hill, to fetch a pail of water'."

" 'Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after'," I finished. She frowned, her good mood vanishing.

"I'm leaving now." She took her bag and walked out. I guess it was a sensitive subject.

..~0~..

After a while, I left the Golden Egg and went home. Or at least started for home. I was passing the statue of Alice in Wonderland***** in Central Park when I noticed a small figure crawling up behind the statue. Now, little kids are always trying to climb that statue, so I didn't think much of it at first. But this kid seemed around twelve or thirteen, which is a little too old to be climbing a statue. Plus, the girl was wearing this really tattered, ripped, dirty, and generally destroyed dress, so I assumed that she was some kind of street kid. So I stood behind a nearby tree so I couldn't be seen, and watched her.

She began playing patty-cake with the Mad Hatter statue. I was wondering what she was trying to accomplish, when his hands glowed red. The top of one of the mushrooms popped open. She took something out of it. Then, of course, she had to turn around and see me. Crap.

"What art thou doing?" she demanded angrily. Now that I got a good look at her, she was definitely a street kid. Her eyebrows arched, which made it look like she was constantly suspicious. She shoved me against a tree. "What is thy name?"

"Uhh…" I was definitely not going to give her my real name, so I said the first thing that came into my head. "Elvendork Shrubworth Jr."

"Liar," she said immediately. Then, the crazy hobo chick pulled out a knife. "Tell me, or I will carve out thy eyeballs and shove them up your nostrils."

"Sherman P. Stonestein," I lied again. This time, she seemed to believe me.

"What does the P stand for?" she asked.

"What's running down my leg right now," I lied yet again. She stepped back immediately, and I took my chance and ran.

"You shall not escape me! I am Moth, rightful Queen of Faerie!" She yelled in the background. The name Moth sounded familiar. But I wasn't going to stop and ask, 'Are you my brother-in-law's insane ex-fiancé who murdered his father?' That would be really stupid.

..~0~..

The next day at school, we finally finished reading A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"Now, class," said Mrs. Elliot, "I think we all learned a very valuable lesson from this story. Can anyone identify it?"

Well, all I'd learned was that Puck could cause a hell of a lot of trouble even when he wasn't doing it on purpose.

"I think it shows how antifeminist people were," said Amy. "See, they'd rather that women married guys they hated than to just be single."

"True, true," agreed Mrs. Elliot, writing it on the board. "But that's all of Shakespeare's plays. Anything specific?"

"It shows how love can cause trouble," suggested a random guy.

"Precisely!" agreed Mrs. Elliot enthusiastically. She went on to babble about how themes from Shakespeare transcend into modern day life.

During this, I was not paying attention at all. I probably should have been listening, because there was going to be a test on it, but I was thinking about the Scarlet Hand. What were they really doing? I had to go back to Ferryport Landing to find out.

End of Chapter

Authors' Note: **So, this chapter was a little short. **_It was kind of hard to write, especially the end. We hope you liked it. _

Lea and Cal read Reviews

loverofbooks4eva: **Yeah, it would be a big deal. **_But we're saving it for an important moment, so stick around._

yorkie999777000: _Yes, we're trying to work on that. _**But Charming's kind of mean to him. Remember, 'Just when I thought Sabrina and Puck would never have kids, and Daphne would die old and alone, there's another Grimm!' So yeah, that wouldn't really work out. **_Thanks for the compliement._

soon2Bactress: **Don't worry, before you know it, some couple will start dating and then everyone will place bets on when they'll break up, even the teacher. At least, that's what happened when I was in 7****th**** grade. **_This will start a whole chain of relationships that will continue even when you're sick of it. Enjoy the lack of drama while you can. __**And we're glad you like the story. Thanks for reviewing. **_

RockSuperstar: _Yeah, we've been planning the golfing ascot thing for a while. _**It was originally going to happen later in the story, but we got sick of waiting. Good old Ferryport Landing. **_Originally, we weren't going to put an explanation of Sabrina and Daphne's day in, but we thought it would be funny. Plus, this story is in the Humor category, so we had to put in something funny. _

The Flaming Reviewer:  We're just going to call you 'Flamey' to save time. _Very creative. If insulting people was a subject in school, we'd give you an A. _**I don't believe I've ever seen so many stars in one review. **_We're really starting to look forward to your criticism, but really, if it bothers you that much, don't read it. Don't get so angry that you get an ulcer. _**Or kidney failure. You don't need to know how getting called a bitch got me a stuffed dolphin. **


	15. Chapter 15

Authors' Note:** Today, I learned an important lesson: if you're playing soccer, some one shoulders you in the lip, and it gets cut, do not apply lip balm. IT BURNS! **_This chapter will be a little different from the others. It won't be from Basil's POV, it will take place in Ferryport Landing, with Sabrina, Puck, and Daphne. It is important to the plot, though. Thanks to all the reviewers, favoriters, and alerters. Enjoy!_

**We do not own the Sisters Grimm. However, Cerulean owns a non-lightning bolt scar on her forehead, and I own a scar on my lip (like Jason Grace).**

Chapter 15

"Why do Mondays exist?" groaned Puck, wandering downstairs.

"Because if there were no Mondays and the work week started on Tuesday, we'd hate Tuesday as much as we hate Monday. So really, it wouldn't make a difference," explained Daphne. She was making miso soup with marshmallows in it.

"It wouldn't be as bad if we had coffee," mused Mr. Canis.

"No. Never speak of coffee," ordered Sabrina.

"Exactly," replied Canis.

"Can't we just have cereal?" asked Red.

Daphne gasped. "No! Of course not! What would Granny say? And besides, we're all out of expired gorilla milk. Nothing makes cereal better than expired gorilla milk."

"Never mind," said Red quickly. She took the bowl of miso-marshmallow soup Daphne had handed her.

"Okay, so what's the plan today?" asked Puck.

"Well, I have a tae kwon doe class to teach at ten, judo at twelve, and purple belt karate at three-thirty," Sabrina said. "Daphne, any plans?"

"Nothing," said Daphne a little too quickly.

"I get off work at four. I'm doing a root canal today!" exclaimed Puck cheerfully.

Everyone looked at him. "You just love torturing people, don't you?" asked Sabrina.

"Of course. Why else do you think we got married?"

Knowing Sabrina and Puck, this was probably code for 'I love you', but no one else realized that.

"Daphne," said Sabrina, "If you aren't doing anything today, could you fix the door? I think it needs a screw or something."

"Oh, um, I can't. That's right. I have a business call… with my publisher… about my new book! Yeah, uh, it's about a serendipitous snowdrop. Yep. That's it. The tale of the Serendipitous snowdrop that went to Cancun."

Everyone stared at her. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing."

..~0~..

The day went by slowly for Sabrina. She had a yellow belt class that day, which was her least favorite to teach. It was always filled with whiny little kids who were afraid of violence.

"Good morning, class. Today, we'll be doing some basic punching. We'll start by punching the bag, like this." She demonstrated in slow motion. "Okay, now make a line and start."

One by one, small children took turns punching the bag. Then, it was Callie's turn. Callie was accident prone. She had green eyes and brown hair with pink streaks. Callie barely tapped the bag.

"Honey, you have to hit harder," explained Sabrina gently. She demonstrated. "See?"

Callie nodded. "Okay." She tried again with both fists. "Ow, my thumbs!" she exclaimed. Then, the bag swung backwards and hit her in the face. "I'm just going to go sit in the corner now," she said tearfully. Sabrina didn't try to stop her.

"Okay. If you need ice or anything, tell me."

..~0~..

Puck's day was better. He got to perform a root canal on a sixteen year old who he could tell right away was the goody-two-shoes, stick-in-the-mud, nerdy kid whose parents only gave away sugar free candy and raisins on Halloween. Because of this, it was a mystery why he needed a root canal, but he clearly did.

"Okay, open wide, Sheldon," Puck told him. His fingers were tingling with anticipation. He held up his drill, and…

"!" screamed Sheldon. Some time later, Sheldon stopped screaming. His teeth were fixed properly. Puck's assistant, Lea, sighed in annoyance.

"Do you enjoy causing pain?" she asked.

"Of course. Why else do you think I got married?"

"So causing pain doesn't… I don't know, cause some kind of moral dilemma?" She inquired.

"Should it?" he asked.

Lea sighed. "I need vodka."

..~0~..

Daphne, meanwhile, was not on a business call with her publisher. She was not writing a story about a serendipitous snowdrop in Cancun. She was on a date with a hot pirate. Well, technically a just a sailor, but still.

"Hey!" said Daphne, sliding onto the bench of the café table next to her boyfriend.

"Hey," replied Jim Hawkins. "How's the writing going?"

"Fine," she replied smoothly.

"What was the whole 'serendipitous snowdrop going to Cancun' thing about? Because I've been to Cancun, and it's too hot for a snowdrop."

"To keep Sabrina from asking questions. I say one thing wrong about you, she will hunt you down and kick the crap out of you."

"Are you exaggerating?" he asked.

"Maybe, but still."

He shrugged. "Well, I'm not scared of your sister. Let's just enjoy the day."

"Okay. I hope they have sprinkles here."

..~0~..

When everyone was back at home, there was a phone call. A really important, possible clue kind of phone call. Surprisingly, it was from Rose.

"Hello, Grimms. It's Rose. What, Dad? Okay, fine. Rosalina Helena Sapphira White-Charming. I'm calling to report a string of robberies from several families around this area. I realize that you're not the police, but I think it has something to do with the Scarlet hand. A historian by the name of Richard Miller was robbed, along with the Portokalos, Vardalos, and Constantine families. The robbers took anything that had to deal with Greek mythology. Miller found a red handprint in his house."

"Definitely Scarlet Hand," agreed Sabrina.

"Why would they only take Greek mythological stuff?" wondered Red.

"It was probably a bunch of teenagers with a bad homework assignment," suggested Puck.

"Or rabid Percy Jackson fans," suggested Daphne.

"Who's Percy Jackson?" asked Red.

"A character in a book series. But it was a long time ago. The question is, what would the Hand want with it?"

"Wait a minute. The Greek myths are kind of like fairytales, right? So maybe they're Everafters," offered Daphne.

"Actually, they are," said Mr. Canis. "They aren't really gods; they're just powerful Everafters that have been around a really long time. I think they're all still in Greece."

"Oh, those guys? I remember them. Some were at Theseus and Hippolyta's wedding," Puck recalled.

"Really? Any reason you never mentioned this?" asked Sabrina.

"They're really boring. Besides, I wasn't even invited. I had to gate crash. I mean, Artemis was okay. We both had the whole 'I don't want to grow up' attitude. Hermes, though… we had some good times. I remember once—"

"Okay, you can stop. We just need to research them and see where that takes us," decided Sabrina.

The five of them sat and pored through books of Greek mythology for hours. Finally, around midnight, they gave up and went to bed.

"Hey, Sabrina? Did you see Kraven anywhere? I can't find him."

"I'm sure he'll turn up, Puck," lied Sabrina. She had actually slipped the thing into Basil's backpack when he left for the city.

"Okay. Goodnight."

As Sabrina crawled into bed, she felt a lump under her pillow.

"What the hell?" she wondered. She reached under and pulled out a pile of pink fluff that she recognized as… Kraven. "!"

"Kraven! You found him!"

Daphne, meanwhile, was standing down the hall, laughing hysterically.

End of Chapter

Authors' Note: **So this was fun. But next chapter, we'll go back to Basil. **_We hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review! Oh, and just to clarify, Apocalypse was the little girl named Callie, and I was the dental assistant. And no, I don't look to alcohol to solve my problems. I just thought it would be funny to write. _

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

yorkie999777000: **Yeah, the only thing I know about A Midsummer Night's Dream is the Disney version from the House of Mouse. **_Fortunately, I have the ability to decipher the code Shakespeare wrote in. _The story will be quite long, about fifty chapters, give or take a few. _On the fifteen kids, well, think of all the stories that involve a handsome unnamed prince. _**That was Charming. **_However, none of his other kids will be in the story. __**Thanks for reviewing. **_

Cool-Bean82: **Jill is definitely conflicted inside. Basil's her friend, but she feels something other than friendship. But then he goes and is all insensitive and reminds her that her brother cracked his head open. **_And yeah, Basil and Rose are kind of-ish together. Thanks for reviewing._

RockSuperstar: _It wasn't our favorite chapter to write, either. _**But I'm glad I got to use Sherman's name again. **_We kind of needed it in there, though. _**And the last part was just a clarification that even if Basil moved to Ferryport Landing, there's still the other half of the world that doesn't know what's going on. Just worrying about pimples and failing tests. Thanks for reviewing.**

The Flaming Reviewer Impersonator: **We're just gonna call you imp. Short for impersonator. So, Imp, we know you didn't mean any harm. But next time you review, just use a different name to avoid conflict. **_Thank you for the compliment, though. _

soon2Bactress: **we're glad you have a million positive things to say. **_And you say your crush was following you?Good luck :D. Thanks for the review._

Flamey: _ Relax. But please, enlighten us: What the heck is a 'starving loin'?_** And where is 'Mount Paper Shredder'? **_And we don't care if you flame us. But please, don't threaten people. _**And we are both girls, btw.**

loverofbooks4eva: _we're glad you weren't really offended. We didn't think you would be, _**but we just wanted to make sure. **

sisterzgrimm33333: _Thanks for the compliment. _**This isn't really a romance story, but **_romance is an important element in the story. _


	16. Chapter 16

Authors' Note: _Sorry for forgetting to update. _**No free afternoons all week long, and I had to scream at my little sister who thinks 5/4=4 1/5.**_ Anyway, here's chapter 16. We do not own the Sisters Grimm._

Chapter 16

So I haven't written in this log thing in a while. I mean, nothing Everafter related has happened. Sure, Jill's around, but she's just being sulky and depressed as usual.

But right now, I'm on the train back to Ferryport Landing. See, my parents were sent away for this retreat/business trip thing back at work, and they didn't trust me to be home alone. So they sent me to stay here. Not that I'm complaining.

For some reason, when I got there, there was a giant bounce house in front of the house. There was loud party music playing, and little kids were running around. One of them was Red.

"Hi, Red!" I said, grabbing her by the back of her red cape. Why was she wearing a cape in summer? She was all smiles until she saw me.

"H-hi Basil," she squeaked. Then she ran away.

"What the hell?" I wondered. I picked up my suitcase and went into the house.

I immediately regretted entering. The furniture had been moved and replaced with bar stools and tables, with some leather sofas along the walls. It was dark, and the walls had been repainted black with neon paint splatters. The room was filled with drunken adults. Some were wobbling around, trying to dance, but were too unsteady to do so. Others were engaged in fistfights and makeout sessions.

Unfortunately, I recognized one of the couples. It was—who else?—Sabrina and Puck. I raised my eyebrows.

"Having fun? Wait, don't answer that. It's pretty clear," I said teasingly. No answer.

"Wow, you're really concentrating, aren't you?" Still no answer. Finally I decided to say something I knew would get their attention.

"YOU TWO LOOK AS GAY AS A THREE DOLLAR BILL!*" That got their attention.

"Heyyy, Basillll," slurred Sabrina. "What're you doing… here?"

"Mom and Dad are on a business trip," I explained. "They sent me here. Hey, where's Mr. Canis? And Daphne?"

"Booooook cluuuub!" sang Puck. His wings popped out and he floated up four feet without really noticing what he was doing.

"Okay then," I said. I took my suitcase and went upstairs. I tried to get into my room, but it was 'occupied'. By a couple. So I went to the attic to leave my stuff there. Then I went into Harry's room. I stepped through the mirror and entered the Chalet of Wonders.

"Hello, Basil," Harry greeted. Over in the corner, a group of people were sitting around discussing a book called Gone With the Wind. One of them was Mr. Canis.

"Oh, hello, Basil," he said. I was relieved to find that he was not drunk.

"Hi. Who are all these people?"

"This is my book club. Care to join us?"

I didn't really care to sit around discussing books, but I didn't want to go back and hang out with the drunken adults. "Sure. Where's Daphne?"

"Downstairs. With all their other friends. You see, this is Daphne, Puck, Red and Sabrina's week off. It's the anniversary of when they first defeated the Scarlet Hand, so they always celebrate. And they're inclined to act… well, completely unlike themselves," he explained.

"Oh," I said. I couldn't think of anything else to say. "So, it's your week off, too, then."

"Of course not. What gave you that idea?"

"Nothing." I didn't want to say so out loud, but he never struck me as very social.

Meanwhile, the others were ranting about how the sequel to Gone With the Wind never measured up to the original, and other book-related stuff.

I got bored and decided to go to the coffee shop, Sacred Grounds. Despite the fact that everyone in this house hates coffee, I don't have a problem with it.

..~0~..

When I got there, I found Marvin sitting in one of the booths with a frappuccino in hand.

"Can I join you?" I asked. He nodded.

"Sure. I didn't know you were in town."

"Yeah, I just got here this afternoon. My parents are off on a business trip."

"Mmmh," Marvin drank his coffee. I noticed his tattoo on his arm. It was a heart, and read '**póg mo thóin'**.**

"What does your tattoo mean?" I asked, pointing. Marvin nearly spit his coffee all over me.

"Love. It means love."

"Oh. That's nice. What language?"

"Uhhh… British."

"You mean English?"

"No. British. Different language."

I was sure he was wrong on that, but I didn't want to argue. Luckily, Rose walked in.

"Basil! I didn't know you were in town," she exclaimed. She walked over and hugged me.

"Yeah, I just got here a few hours ago."

She gasped. "Did you see your house?"

"Unfortunately. Does this happen every year?" I asked.

"Yeah, all the adults go. Even my parents."

I decided to change the subject. "Any news on the Scarlet Hand?" I asked, quietly so none of the others in the shop could overhear me.

Rose's smile disappeared, and Marvin frowned. "Actually," whispered Rose, "We can't discuss it here. Let's go to the woods so no one can hear us."

"Okay, sure," I whispered back.

..~0~..

We hiked through the woods until we reached the place where we'd found Cilantro. Robert and Daniella were already there.

"Hope you don't mind; they're kind of in on the whole 'keep a Jabberwocky as a pet' thing," explained Rose. Not surprisingly, Cilantro crawled out of a nearby tree and flew up to me. He'd gotten larger, and was about five feet long now.

"Okay, but what about the Scarlet Hand?" I asked.

"Actually, we found out a few interesting things, thanks to Rose," said Daniella.

"Turns out she's a good spy," added Robert. I raised my eyebrows. I didn't think that Rose could keep secrets.

"Really?"

She shrugged. "I'm pretty good at picking things up. I know how people's minds work. See, I've been spying on Heart, and I found some of the others who were in it. Nottingham, the Mad Hatter, Alice in Wonderland, Sophie from the story of the Red Shoes, and Eric from the Little Mermaid. Oh, and Prince Hyacinth."

"I thought your dad was the prince from The Little Mermaid," interrupted Robert.

"No, my dad believes in dating only human beings. He considers part-humans inferior."

"Like Umbridge," muttered Daniella.

"Anyway," continued Rose, "They keep talking about the notebook of Harry Houdini. Houdini was an escape artist. Apparently, he even knew how to escape magical barriers. Like the one around Ferryport Landing. And he recorded it all in a notebook."

I was quiet for a moment, trying to take this entire situation in. "So we need to find the notebook before they do."

"Basically," said Marvin.

"Any idea where it might be?" I asked.

"No. They might mention it in one of your family's journals, though," suggested Rose.

I was getting really sick of the journals. "Okay, but let's hope they haven't been destroyed in the house party. And you guys better help."

They all promised they would. As soon as the drunken adults cleared out of the house.

End of chapter

Authors' Note: _Again, sorry for not updating. _**Soccer games and laziness kicked in. **_and school. So please tell us what you thought of this chapter. Thanks for reading._

*_ The 'you two look as gay as a three dollar bill' quote was from Apocalypse's soccer coach._ **He said that. I'm not kidding. He curses occasionally, got suspended, and jumps up and down, pounding his fists on the ground like a cartoon character.** _He's one of those stereotypical crazy soccer coaches_**. Really crazy.**

** This quote is Gaelic and means 'Kiss my ass. We got the idea from a girl we know who got an airbrush tattoo of that.

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

yorkie999777000:**We're just going to pretend those were him. We're too lazy to research all the different versions. **_Because that's really hard. _**We do put a standard amount of research into these stories. **_We're glad you're excited about this. So are we. __**Thanks for reviewing. **_

The flaming reviewer impersonator: **We're really confused. **_Thank you for the compliments, though. _**Still, this is getting really confusing. **

Flamey: We're sisters. And straight. Incest is gross. **We once went to Mamma Mia, the play, and the guy who played Sky had the BEST. ABS. EVER! **_It was beautiful. But please, if you're homophobic, that's really mean. _**People are homosexual because of chemical patterns in their brain. **_It's cruel to make fun of people for something they can't control. _

RockSuperstar: **We love Potter Puppet pals. **_They keep us from succumbing to Post Potter Depression. Oh, and __Treasure Island__ is pretty good. It starts a little slow, but all books do. _**I still have to read it. **

loverofbooks4eva:** We listened to it a couple times and it is the most Puck-tastic song ever. **_I saw the play once, but we weren't thinking of that when we made Puck a dentist. But thanks for telling us about it, it's hilarious. Cal won't stop singing it. _**At least I don't sing 'Popular' anymore. **

Demigod536: **IDK where I came up with the 'rabid Percy Jackson fans' comment, but **_we stuck it in there because we like the series. We thought it was easier without Basil's POV, but we felt the need to create a specific personality for him, and this was the best way to do that. _**Plus, the archive needs more Basil stories, and I've had the idea for a while, and the idea has just been overcooking in my head. **

fluffy:** don't worry, she'll find out soon. **_We're not really good at fluff, but we realize there has to be at least a little. But it's hard to work it into the story. We'll try, though. Thanks for reviewing. _

The Flaming reviewer: **Are you a second impersonator, or the same one?**_ Glad you like the story, but still. Confusing. _

The nameless avenger: _Thanks for defending our story against flamey. We aren't really offended by his/her comments, _**but we're flattered that you like the story enough to defend us. **


	17. Chapter 17

Authors' Note:** Cerulean, stop blubbering! I'm TYPING THIS! **_But I always type. I'm faster._** Too bad. You are in the Seat of Shame. Now, post that mindless banter: **_**THANKS SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO PRAISED, FLAMED, OR CONSTRUCTIVLEY CRITICIZED. 101 REVIEWS! WE LOVE YOU GUYS!**_** I don't think I've ever been more proud.**_ This really means a lot to us, so thanks._ We do not own the Sisters Grimm.

Chapter 17

I ended up spending the night at Robert's house, not wanting to go back home. I had a feeling that everyone would be hung over in the morning and try to make me help clean up. And I was not about to do clean up duty for a party I wasn't invited to. His parents were at the party too, so Robert didn't mind.

The next afternoon, I finally went back home, after trying to put it off for as long as possible. When I got there… Well, have you ever seen the 'before' pictures from those shows about hoarders? If you have, then you have a pretty good idea about what the house looked like.

Strewn across the front lawn were the remains of the bounce house. Candy wrappers and chip bags were scattered in the grass. The house itself was covered in Silly String, toilet paper, streamers, and paint splatters. I braced myself and walked through the front door (Which was hanging off its hinges). Inside, beer cans covered the floor, along with a few items of clothing and broken furniture. For some reason, Kraven the Deceiver was hanging from the ceiling fan, which was still spinning. The black wallpaper had been ripped off, and I saw the TV remote in a fishtank. I didn't even know we had a fishtank. The words, 'Jason—you're delicious and you know it! 3, Lauren'* were written in purple Sharpie on the walls. In the midst of all this, Daphne walked downstairs.

"What the hell happened down here?" she asked. Surprisingly, she didn't seem hung over. Then, she noticed me. "Basil, what are you doing here?"

"I got here yesterday, but everyone was… a little off. I saw Sabrina and Puck, and I left my stuff in the mirror. But I thought you were down here partying."

"No, I was in my room." Abruptly, she changed the subject. "But enough about that, we should really get things cleaned up."

"Look, I don't want to be rude, but since I didn't make this mess—"

"No, I'm not going to make you clean up. What do you think this is for?" she asked, pulling out a wand. She walked to the center of the room and flicked it a few times. Suddenly, all the beer cans sprouted wings and floated into the garbage. Broken furniture reassembled itself and went into the corner. The Sharpie scribbles and black wallpaper vanished. Our usual furniture literally sprouted legs and walked out of the closet. And all this happened in about a minute.

"Cool," I said.

"Isn't it?" replied Daphne, beaming. "Now where… oh, there they are!" She pointed to a pair of legs under the couch. She grabbed one of the legs and pulled. It was Sabrina. "Okay, now where's Puck?" she wondered, crossing the room. Then, she stumbled. He was lying on the ground, buried in beer cans.

"Who's stepping on me?" groaned Puck.

"Just me. You can stay there." Daphne turned away and walked back to where I was standing. "So it looks like it's going to be just you and me today, Basil. Are you ready to do some sleuthing?"

I grinned. "Well, duh."

..~0~..

"Okay, so this guy is a suspected Scarlet Hand member," explained Daphne. "His name's Prince Hyacinth."

"Like the _flower_?" I asked.

"Yes. Anyway, we're going to tail him. Apparently, he isn't one of the brightest ones, so he may let something slip."

"Okay, sounds good."

We wandered down Main Street. Then, we saw this guy with an unnaturally long nose. He was dressed fashionably, and from the way he walked, you could just tell that he was cocky. I couldn't help but stare at the weirdo. Daphne elbowed me. "That's him. Don't stare, you'll only draw attention to yourself. Just watch him out of the corner of your eyes."

And so, we followed Hyacinth around town. To keep from looking suspicious, we kept stopping to wander through random stores, occasionally picking up new disguises, and stopping to chat with people. He didn't seem to behaving strangely, just walking around and stopping to look at his reflection in every store window.

Then, he stopped to talk to someone. Someone I knew. It was Rose. I guess that since I knew she was trying to get into the Scarlet Hand as a spy, I should have realized she would have to go the whole nine yards with it.

They were by a fruit stand. I tried to get closer, but I still couldn't hear what they were saying. But it looked like he was telling her something important. Finally, he walked away and started going towards a white car with a long bumper. I had to act fast. I walked toward him quickly like I was in a hurry. I bumped into him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, trying to sound apologetic. Prince Hyacinth raised his large nose.

"It's nothing. Peasant," he scoffed. His voice was fairly high for a man. It reminded me of a pop star that was popular a few years ago, Dustin Beeper, famous for his hit song, 'Beepin' and Weepin'. Then he turned to a life of drugs. I think he only comes out in public for those, 'Where Are They Now?' shows.

I walked away and ran back to Daphne. "What's up?" she asked. "You look excited."

I smirked. "I got his phone," I explained, holding it up triumphantly. Daphne squealed in excitement.

"Nice work, Basil."

We went home and went through text after text, until we finally came across something interesting.

End of Chapter

Authors' Note: _Sorry for the short chapter and the cliffy. We will update again Wednesday. _**At least we'll try.**

_*This was a note I found in a library book about Eleanor Roosevelt. I have a feeling it's being used as a secret system for a pair of lovers to communicate._

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

The nameless avenger: _It's cool that you actually bear a physical resemblance to Sabrina. The reason we call ourselves 'Cerulean Apocalypse' is that the names our parents gave us are kind of lame. _**Mine is short and unoriginal. Cerulean's is long and French. This is a mystery, as we are not even French. Not even close. Anyway, thanks for reviewing. **

Flamey:_**Sorry we didn't realize your gender, **__SIR. (Happy now?)_**We're sorry you hate this story, but we're not going to stop writing until it's done. Thanks for helping us get to 100 reviews. We only say that to annoy you. **_We always love any kind of feedback._

yorkie999777000: _You would like to see what happened if… What? PM us. _**Also, be nice to Flamey. **_His comments are so amusing. LOL. Thanks for helping us reach__100 reviews. _

Impersonator:_ Your little sister beats you up too? I can sympathize. We have a sister we call Bellatrix after the crazy, torture-obsessed witch from that fabulous creation of J.K. Rowling. _**Please be nice to Flamey. That was a bit too extreme. **_P.S. I hope Dora doesn't leave you for the monkey thing. Whatever that is. _

The artist formerly known as the flaming reviewer: _Thanks for finally coming clean. _**The three dollar bill thing was my idea, from my crazy coach. I think he might get suspended again; he keeps getting in a ton of fights with the referees. **_**Thanks for helping us reach 100 reviews.**_

Evil Scrapbooker: _Thanks so much for all the reviews. _**Better late than never. **_We were also afraid our story is getting scatterbrained. I think we're better at being serious on our own. _**Maybe we should get Bellatrix to help us. (Haha, just kidding. She's evil) And about the crazy soccer coach: If you were a year younger, I'd suspect you played against my team. I have a crazy coach. Suspended, cursing, likes to jump up and down pounding his fists. **_We always felt that Charming would have a bunch of kids. But I think at least one would wander in during the last book. __**Thanks for helping us get to 100 reviews. **_

Curlscat: _Glad you don't think the story is horrible. __**Thanks for helping us get to 100 reviews.**_

Maddie B:_ we really wanted basil to come off as casual, not sunny 24/7 like Daphne or angry like Sabrina. _**We wanted to make him his own person. **_**Thanks for helping us reach 100 reviews.**_

loverofbooks4eva: **We have no idea where the drunken adults came from.**_ Actually, the inspiration for the drunkenness came from watching Pirates of the Caribbean.__** Thanks for helping us reach 100 reviews. **_

RockSuperstar: _Wendell is the Pied Piper's son, Wendell's half brother. _**We didn't explain rose's past because we're giving her an interesting backstory, and writing it down now would ruin everything. **_**Thanks for helping us reach 100 reviews. **_

HikaruLite: **Uncle Jake just kind of left after Christmas. And no, Red doesn't like Basil. **_See, in the books she came off as kind of shy, or at least she seemed that way to us. __**Thanks for helping us reach 100 reviews. **_


	18. Chapter 18

Authors' Note: **Oh my gosh it's MUGGLECAST! No I'm kidding. It's "Of Mirrors and Mayhem" chapter 18.**_ Okay, we hope you like this chapter. We realize that the last one was kind of cliffy, but we're sorry. We also apologize for not updating Wednesday. _**We said we would try.**

_**We do not own the Sisters Grimm.**_

Chapter 18

We flipped through the texts. There were quite a few, and while some were really stupid and pointless, some were actually pretty informative. One said:

**Heyyyy beyotches Scarlet Hnd Meetin 2 AM! Imma suggest my BIIIIIG plan 2 2day 2 get us OUTTIE HEAH! omg didz u guyz heah about GLEE cuz last's nite's eppy wz AWSUM!**

One of the useless ones that someone sent him said:

**Any of them gettign drunk is the most damn reardred crap I've ever read. AND WHEN THE IMPOSTER STOPS, i'LL STIOP CURSING IN THESE FUCKING REVIEWS! tHEY'LL STILL BE FLAMS!**

**-Flamey**

Apparently, this 'Flamey' dude had anger issues. But we finally came across a really good text.

**Heyyy guys? When Heart wz talking about the seven magical escape attempts, which were ritten by Harry Houdini, which 1 had to do with th crystal coffin? N wz the pocket universe one the fifth or sixth? And what wz the 1 w/ the mirror about again? **

Unfortunately, the reply for this was deleted, so we didn't see it.

"Well, at least we have some of the phone numbers of suspected Hand members," said Daphne cheerfully.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Okay, we should write down what we know," said Daphne, taking out a piece of paper. "So let's see… The Hand has the notebook of Harry Houdini, which has seven magical escape attempts. One has to do with the crystal coffin, another involves some kind of pocket universe, and another involves a mirror…" At this, she stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Mirror… I'll be right back." She practically ran from the room. I was left wondering what the hell was going on. About an hour later, she returned, looking somewhat relieved, dragging Sabrina and Puck, who still looked a little hung over.

"Do you mind telling me what that was about?" I asked. Daphne turned to Sabrina and Puck.

"I think it's time we explained the first war to him," said Daphne.

"Everything?" asked Sabrina. Daphne nodded. "Fine. I'll start.

"See, it all started when Mom and Dad disappeared. The police could only find an abandoned car with a red handprint. It was the only clue, and it didn't help at all. So that is how Daphne and I found ourselves in so many different foster homes."

"I'll take it from here," said Daphne. "The foster homes… well, they were basically hell on earth. But the good thing about them was that they taught us to survive. Good preparation for the really hard things. Finally, after a while, we ended up with Granny Relda."

"At first, I thought she was a nutcase," interrupted Sabrina. "But she was a lot better that any of the other places we were sent to. I wanted to run away at first." She sounded a little guilty. I guess she still felt bad about judging so harshly. "But we ended up finding out about Everafters. I was a little… uneasy about it at first. But soon, we found out that all the bad guys we encountered were from the Scarlet Hand."

"There was a chain of mysteries going around—which we eventually solved," said Daphne happily, flipping her hair. "But all of them led us straight back to the Scarlet Hand. And Sabrina was obsessing about finding our parents. But we found them eventually and woke them up with the help of Dad's ex."

"So eventually, there a full fledged war going on with the Hand," Sabrina said. "It was awful. And—"

"Wait! There was a war. In Ferryport Landing. Which is, like, blink-and-you-miss-it."

"Yeah. Why?"

"Nothing. Keep going."

"Yeah, so there was a war. And the leader of the Scarlet Hand was our old magic mirror," said Sabrina sourly. "He betrayed us all by pretending to be our friend. And he had access to all our magical items, so it was extra bad. Anyway, he possessed Granny Relda for a while."

"Why Granny Relda?" I asked curiously. They all exchanged dark glances.

"Well, it was sort of an accident," Daphne said, playing with one of her necklaces. "You see… he meant to possess your body."

I'd never heard this before. It was a bit strange. More than strange, actually. My entire life, I was lied to about the existence of Everafters. And then when they come clean to me, there are still more lies and secrets. Maybe they forgot? No. Definitely not. They couldn't possibly forget something like that.

"Look, Basil, I understand that you're mad about this, but at least let us finish. Anyway," Sabrina said quickly, like she was expecting me to walk out any minute, "The leader of the Hand was stuck in Granny Relda's body, but we eventually stopped him by using a magic kazoo which stopped people from being possessed. He was forced back into the mirror, along with most of the Scarlet Hand. Then, we destroyed the mirror."

"And about how old was I when this happened?" I asked, still immensely annoyed.

"Two," supplied Puck. He was still slightly intoxicated.

"WHY don't I remember this?" I demanded angrily.

"Well, not many people remember things from when they were two… And anyway, we used a lot of forgetful dust on you, just to make sure," explained Daphne tentatively.

"That's it," I said, still angry. I grabbed my backpack and walked out. Of course, I tripped and fell. Right down a rabbit hole.

..~0~..

I fell for a pretty long time. When I finally landed on the ground, I was on a Yellow Brick Road. "Are you fucking kidding me? Seriously? I hit my head THAT hard?" I yelled angrily.

"Oh my! Oz is no place for the f-bomb!" shouted a Munchkin. She looked like my English teacher, Mrs. Elliot.

"Sorry. Now where's Glinda?" I asked, highly annoyed.

"What about Toto?" demanded a small dog angrily. Oddly enough, it sounded like Sabrina.

"Sabrina? Is that you? What are you doing in my Oz dream?" I asked.

"Well, why'd you bring me here? It's your dream," she complained. "And why must I be the dog again?"

"Again?" Great, more family secrets and lies. Suddenly, a glowing pink bubble appeared. it grew larger and larger. And Rose appeared. Instead of a puffy dress, she was wearing pink, shimmery, low-cut dress with slits and cutouts in the sides. It was pretty short, too, barely coming down to mid-thigh. To be honest, she looked totally hot.

"Hello, Basil. Why am I wearing a skimpy dress?" she asked. "I'm supposed to have a ball gown. I look like a stripper in this."

"It's my dream."

She sighed. "Okay, you know the drill. Your house fell on Jack, the Wicked Witch of the East. The Wicked Witch of the West is after you, hang onto the silver slippers, stay on the yellow brick road, yadda yadda yadda, okay I think we're good. Oh, and remember this." She kissed me on the forehead. In the book, that was supposed to protect Dorothy from evil.

Then a cloud of red smoke appeared, and the Wicked Witch of the West appeared. It was Jill. She looked confused. "Um, I really have no interest in murdering you, so just try not to piss me off." Then she looked under the house. She turned to me angrily. "You killed Jack? Now it's personal! I'll get you, you moron! And your little dog, too!" She disappeared.

I turned to Mrs. Elliot, the leader of the Munchkins. "Do you guys have to sing, or can I just go?" I questioned hesitantly.

"Of course we have to sing!" she exclaimed.

"Run for it," I whispered to Sabrina. We sprinted down the Yellow Brick Road.

End Of Chapter

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

yorkie999777000: **Flamey is a 'he'. **_At least, I think so…LOL_

loverofbooks4eva_ thanks for helping. And we're glad our update times are satisfactory. _**I don't like it when stories get abandoned. It makes me sad. **_**That's why we try to update frequently.**_

RockSuperstar: _Daphne was at the house during the party, but she wasn't actually partying. She was with Jim. _**Doing stuff.**_ I really wish that things could be cleaned up with magic._

twilitNavi: _ yeah, we generally try to bring in a wider range of fairytale characters, because eventually people get tired of the same ones over and over, and besides, there are just so many out there. _**Plus, Michael Buckley used up all the good ones. **

Flamey: **They hate coffee because of the 'Coffee Incident'.**_ And dude, after all the amused replies you keep getting to your flames, you still haven't realized that we're laughing our asses off about them? _**We said we would try to update on Wednesday. Trying and making a blood promise are two different things. See ya, flames. **_And you're part of the reason why we keep updating. We like seeing how angry it makes you. Plus, there's all the wonderful, loyal readers who still seem to like us._


	19. Chapter 19

Authors' Note:** I am sorry for not updating sooner. I don't know about Cerulean.**_ Sorry. I was busy watching the SunDrop commercial. It is EPIC. And yes, I am sorry about not updating sooner._

Chapter 19

So Sabrina and I ran down that Yellow Brick Road, trying to get away from Mrs. Elliot and her Munchkin crew.

"Well, the good thing is that we're not in the book of Everafter," said Sabrina. "They were totally uptight about following the story."

"Remember, it's my dream," I explained.

After a while, we ran into this guy named Boq, who strangely resembled Robert. He offered us dinner. Sabrina wanted to keep moving, but I decided to stick around. He had an awesome mansion, with a PlayStation 15, a pool, a bowling alley, and a weapon gallery. Boq-Robert seemed especially fond of the bows and arrows. I guess archery runs in the family, with him being Robin Hood's son and all.

The only thing that was strange about the house was Boq's rainbow mural.

Then, we moved on. At some point, we saw a scarecrow. It was Daphne. "Hey guys, could you let me down? Hanging off a pole isn't fun."

"Neither is being a dog," replied Sabrina.

"You're the dog? Again?"

"Why _again_?" I asked in exasperation. "What's with the secrets?"

"We'll explain later. But seriously, get me down."

I pulled on the nail, and Daphne fell off. "Wait, where's my stuffing?" she asked. She ran around the pole, trying to pick up all the straw. Finally, she got herself together. "To Oz?" she asked enthusiastically.

"Um, we're not singing," I reminded her.

"Darn it."

We kept walking and eventually found the trees with anger issues. But we decided to avoid them, mostly because they were pelting apples at a couple idiots.

"No! You're messing up my pigtails!" one idiot wailed. We walked on and left them alone.

"Okay, now we have to find the tin man," Daphne said.

"Is that really necessary?" I asked her, hoping she would say no.

"Yes, it is," Sabrina insisted. I sighed, but helped them look through the woods for the tin man.

After several minutes, I was ready to give up. But then I tripped over something shiny. An axe made out of tin. It was lying a few feet away from the tin man… who also had wings. "Puck?" I asked, mildly surprised. The man made a few noises as if he was trying to talk but couldn't move his mouth. "Where's the oilcan?" I muttered to myself.

Sabrina trotted in. "Basil, what are you doing? Don't unstick him!" she exclaimed. Puck saw her. He made a strange noise, almost like laughing.

"Fine, fine. We'll leave him," I sighed. I guess that wasn't very nice. But this was a dream, so nothing bad could happen to him… right?

Daphne saw him and protested a little, but in the end, she decided that taking Puck with us would slow us down.

We continued traveling down the road. "Guys, I think I hear something," I said after a while. The forest was getting darker and darker. There were strange little lights moving in pairs around the trees. If I didn't know better, I'd say they were toy laser lights. But this was Oz, so… "Lions and tigers and bears," I said quietly.

"Oh, my," said Daphne.

"We're not singing the rest," ordered Sabrina.

Suddenly, a large animal jumped out. "Hey… it's… wait a minute. That's not anyone we know, is it?"

"Umm, I don't think I know anyone with ten-inch razor-sharp teeth and giant paws, who also happens to be seven feet tall and completely hairy," Daphne squeaked.

"Wait, what about the guy who works in the supermarket?" questioned Sabrina hopefully.

"Reginald? No. He's a ginger. So this is—"

"A real lion," I finished. The animal stared down at us with beady eyes. It growled threateningly.

"Run for it!" yelled Sabrina. We sprinted through the trees, screaming our heads off. We could barely see, so we kept tripping and running into trees. The lion was gaining on us. He pounced. And I woke up.

..~0~..

The good news was that I was awake. The bad news is that I was at the bottom of a rabbit hole. "Is anyone there?" I called. The problem was, this was no average rabbit hole. It probably started as one, but I must have fallen through to a deeper level underneath and ended up in a tunnel. "Hello?" I called. There was a strange golden light coming from the end of the tunnel. I didn't know how far away that was, but I figured that since I was already down here, I might as well take a look.

I picked up my backpack, which was lying nearby. I slung it over my shoulder and walked towards the light. Something strange dawned on me then. I'm not a superstitious person, but you try walking towards the light in a dark tunnel and see if you don't think of the clichés. This is exactly what people say happens in a near-death experience.

But I was pretty sure people didn't have dreams about the Wizard of Oz before they died, so I figured I was okay.

The tunnel stretched on farther. It wasn't very big, just high enough for me to stand up straight, and about four feet wide. The stone walls were a strange color: beige, but with unusually bright streaks of gold running through it. The gold light at the end of the tunnel remained bright. I kept walking for about twenty minutes. Then the tunnel widened, and I was standing in the strangest place I had ever seen.

First of all, it was massive, about the size of the Chalet of Wonders. The golden streaks on the walls were even more prominent here. They were accompanied by swirls of other colors, too—sky blue, emerald green, violet. The colors swirled together on the ceiling and curled downward in long, sharp stalactites. The middle of the cavern was the strangest. There seemed to be a clear glass wall, but with strange cracks in it that emitted the golden light that I had been seeing. The cracks were widest towards the bottom, large enough for a person to climb through.

I moved closer to the glass wall. Then, a voice called from behind me:

"Who are you, and why have you come?"

I think it's safe to say that I nearly had a heart attack. I whirled around, looking for the owner of the voice. It was definitely a boy's voice, but it had a strange, misty, almost faint quality.

"Hello?" I called. My heart was pounding. "Who's there?" I turned around again, and the speaker was standing in front of me.

It was a young boy, about twelve or thirteen, with curly hair. I couldn't tell you what color it was, though, because he was completely transparent. He floated a few inches off the ground.

"I am Azmuth," said the boy.

"Oh. You're an Everafter, then?" I asked. I racked my brains, trying to think of ghostly Everafters.

"No, I am—was—human. I died down here… what year is it? About… ten, twelve years ago. Who are you?"

He talked strangely, like he hadn't used his voice in a while. "I'm Basil. Basil Grimm."

"You're one of the Grimms? I knew a Sabrina Grimm once. Briefly, though. It was just before I died."

"She's my sister. Why?"

"She's the one who caused him to blow the tunnel up. I was one of the ones who was manipulated into coming here, to finish the tunnel. To help him escape."

"Who is 'him'?" I asked.

A smile played on his lips. But it wasn't a friendly smile. It was the smile people have when they know something you don't. "Can't you guess? I'll give you three tries."

That line sounded familiar. I remembered an old story I'd heard in school, something about straw turning to gold. "Rumpelstiltskin?" I suggested.

"Very good, although he preferred that we call him Mr. Sheepshank," Azmuth said. His voice was eerily monotone. "I asked you before, what is your business here?"

I honestly could not think of what to tell a 12 year old ghost kid. "I, uh, fell down a rabbit hole."

"Oh. That's… interesting. So, are you looking for something, or are you just going to leave?" he asked.

"No, I thought I'd just see what's down here. Why, should I go?"

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I merely assumed you were one of those people who were trying to break through the barrier."

Wait a minute. Break through the barrier? "Wait, Azmuth, who exactly was trying to do that?"

"An odd group of people. They called themselves the Scarlet Hand, or perhaps the Indigo Foot. But I find the former to be the more likely. They made the mistake of mentioning that this Rumpelstiltskin was one of them. I refused to let them pass."

"The barrier? I thought it was by the river."

"It is. We are under it, right now. Did you not realize what that wall was?" he gestured to the cracked glass wall.

"So that's the barrier? Why is it cracked?"

"It was Rumpelstiltskin. He knew that the barrier grows weaker underground. He used my classmates and myself to make a tunnel to reach it. Then, he attempted to destroy it with magic.

"He succeeded, but few realize that he did. This was due to the actions of your family. They released everyone from the spell of the piper, and almost everyone made it out. Except me." He sounded a little bitter about that. I guess he had a right to be.

"And you've been here ever since," I said. The idea was strange, staying down here in the dark for so long.

"No, not the entire time. I have ventured up to the outside world, but I always return for fear that someone will pass through the barrier."

"Oh," I said. I really felt bad for him, because I'd been down here for five minutes and I already wanted to leave. I couldn't imagine being there alone for twelve years.

Azmuth studied my expression. "You wish to leave?" he asked.

I didn't want to offend him, but I really wanted to. "It's… it's a nice cave. But I'd really prefer to go."

"What's keeping you? Go, if you wish to. I am no enemy of yours; merely a guardian of the barrier. Goodbye, Basil Grimm. Our paths will cross again one day."

"How do you know?" I asked, because that sounded a little creepy.

"I don't. I saw it in a movie and I thought it sounded cool," he said. He smiled then, a real smile.

"Goodbye," I called. I turned back toward the tunnel and started home.

..~0~..

End of Chapter

Authors' Note: _Again, so sorry for not updating. But that chapter was fun to write. I don't know if you remember, but we mentioned a few chapters ago that we would introduce a character named Azmuth. _**If you can guess what show the name 'Azmuth' is from, you win chapter dedication. **

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

yorkie999777000: _I agree. Flamey is hilarious._

RockSuperstar: **We're sorry we had to make you use brain-bleach, but hey, at least we didn't lie to you. **_Sorry about the cliffy, but I'm glad you liked the way we did the whole 'Mirror was supposed to possess you' thing. _**And the 'Mrs. Elliot' thing is purely coincidental. Neither of us have ever have a teacher called Mrs. Elliot. **

TwilitNavi: _sO WE can'T wRitE LIke tHis? Just kidding. I don't think Flamey knows how to spell. Or type. _**Hey, I can't type either! Cerulean types this for me because I type so slowly. Although compared to some kids in my class, I type fast. Which is quite sad. This is because some kid yelled at me today for backing my chair into him. Wait, that has nothing to do with this. Never mind, then.**

The Flaming reviewer Impersonator: **Okay, new imp (Short for impostor) **_I know the days of the week, too! I'm so proud of myself. _**I learned them from this song called Friday. **_**We're glad you liked the dream. The dream was fun.**_

RockstarGurl4444: _**We're really glad you liked it. **__We try our best to make the story good._

Flamey: _**We are deeply sorry for plagiarizing. It won't happen again. **__If Basil was a whore, he would have asked Rose if she was looking for a good time, and he would be the one in scanty clothing, _**not the other way around. Or something like that.**

loverofbooks4eva: **Most people do have abandoned stories. **_Oh, well. We won't judge. _**It just annoys me when it's really good and they leave it there for years, and then you come across it, thinking 'Oh, here's a good story', and then finding out that it was never finished. **_Well… it's not the worst thing in the world. The worst thing on this website is someone who uses their account to express racist, sexist, or generally rude views. Since you're not any of these, abandoning a fic isn't too bad. _**True.**

The Flaming reviewer(With an account): **I'm going to call you Countey, because you have an account. **_I'm sorry that Apocalypse left a harsh pm for you. _** They were my true feelings. **_I know you didn't mean anything. It's all Flamey's fault. Truce?_

You'reINsaneButILoveYouAnyway:_ Interesting penname, by the way. It's cute._** Hey, Chichi! Thanks for reviewing our story. Definitely a break from PJATO. But, hey, I'm glad you like it. **

~_Cerulean _and **Apocalypse=) ** signing out:)


	20. Chapter 20

Authors' Note: **I apologize for not updating. There's been a lot going on in our lives in addition to school. **

**We don't own the Sisters Grimm. We do have a Queen of Hearts and a Snow White costume, though. _This chapter is dedicated to TwilitNavi, who was the only one who bothered to guess what show the name 'Azmuth' was from. It's from Ben 10. Thanks, TwilitNavi. You're awesome._**

Chapter 20

I walked back into the house, and found Sabrina and Daphne having a conversation that included whispers, shouts, crinkled eyebrows, and throwing gummy worms. I didn't really want to make a scene, because I wasn't in the mood for hugging. I half wanted to sneak upstairs and then come down for dinner as if I had just gone to see a movie, gotten some coffee, and wandered back to the house. But I felt bad about stomping off angrily, so I went into the living room.

"Hi Basil. Where've you been?" asked Sabrina calmly. I was a little confused by the calmness. I mean, I didn't exactly want them to make a fuss, but come on. I ran away! Doesn't that mean anything to them?

As if she'd read my mind, Sabrina added, "I guess you're expecting us to flip out or something, right? Basil, you ran away for three hours. We knew you'd be back by the end of the day."

"Yeah," chimed Daphne. "Do you have any idea how many times we tried to run away? We always came back. Except for those foster homes… At any rate, we always came back to this house."

"Oh," I said awkwardly. I guess they were right. I shuffled around awkwardly and sat on the couch. "So, what's new?"

"Well, if you must know… In the three hours that you were gone… Nothing happened. Why, what did you do?"

"Oh, umm… I kind of fell down a rabbit hole, and discovered a secret exit from the barrier that's been hidden for twelve years and is guarded by a former classmate of yours. Goes by the name of Azmuth. Oh, and he thinks that the Scarlet Hand might be trying to get through it."

Sabrina and Daphne exchanged concerned looks. Then they each grabbed one of my arms and started dragging me outside. "Where are you taking me?" I demanded.

"He clearly has brain damage. We're taking him to the hospital immediately," ordered Sabrina. "Puck! Go find my car."

"It's on the roof!" he called. He flew into the living room. "Oh, you're back. I knew it. Daphne, you owe me twenty bucks! I said he'd be back in under five hours! You said he'd return by tomorrow!"

"Not now. He has brain damage, so we're taking him to the hospital. And get Sabrina's car off the roof!"

Puck flew next to us and looked at me. He held up three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three."

"Liar. I'm holding up two!" he said.

I was pretty sure I was right. "No, you were holding up three!"

He grinned. "You're right, I was just testing you. He's fine."

"Oh," said Daphne looking relieved. Then, her expression turned to one of horror. "Wait. So there _is _a secret exit from Ferryport Landing?"

I nodded grimly.

"Hang on, did you say Azmuth?" asked Sabrina. "Puck, wasn't he the kid who—"

"I nearly knocked unconscious in dodge ball that time? Yeah. He was the one who never made it out alive… You said he was guarding the entrance?" he asked, turning to me.

"Yes. But not him, exactly. His ghost."

"How exactly does a ghost protect the exit?" asked Daphne.

"I don't know, but I'd love to find out. That's a pretty epic trick," said Puck, his eyes lighting up at the thought of holding back an army by any means of trickery.

Suddenly, the Gummy Bear Song played. "Hold on, I have to take this," mumbled Daphne. She jumped out the window and ran to hide in the bushes.

Sabrina shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder about that girl," she said darkly.

Someone knocked on the door. "I'll get it," I muttered. It was Rose.

"Hey, Basil," she said cheerfully. "You're back! I knew you'd be back before the end of the day!" She took out her phone and texted Daniella:

**Ha! Basil's back, u owe me $10. U said he'd b back by 2moro!**

Why was everyone betting on my return? Was I really that predictable?

Rose's expression turned serious. "I probably should tell you, though: something more important happened." She led us up the stairs and into Harry's closet. We stepped through the mirror, and into the Chalet of Wonders. "Is it safe to talk here?" She asked Sabrina, who nodded. Then, Rose began to talk in a hushed tone. "You know how I've been trying to infiltrate the Scarlet Hand?"

"Yeah. Why, did you get in?"

"Well, no," Rose acknowledged. "Apparently I have to do something to prove they can trust me. We've been communicating, though. But I've been trying to narrow down its members. And I've figured out the possible identities of a few minor members." She pulled an iPad out of her bag, and turned it on. She selected an app and showed it to us.

It was some sort of Everafter Archive. It was a page of various Everafters, listed in alphabetical order, with pictures and links to 'Current Activities', 'Origins' and 'Special Abilities'. Rose scrolled down the list to the 'O' section and selected someone named 'Odd'.

"From what I've heard, this guy may be involved with them, but he's still in Scandinavia. They happen to mention him. And then, there's also—" she selected another link, "Someone called Karen."

"Karen?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Some Everafters do have normal names, you know. I mean, not everyone has excessively long ones," she added. "This girl, Karen, happens to be from a Hans Christian Andersen story called the Red Shoes. She has no feet, and she's mildly insane. So, I contacted her."

"Wait, you contacted a crazy footless old lady who you knew was insane? That's cool," said Puck.

"She's not old! She's twelve!" explained Rose. "But yes, she's insane. I went to her and convinced her that all I wanted to do was to get out of here. I kind of compared being stuck here to Karen's curse, so she told me about a possible escape."

"It was that easy?" I asked.

"Well, no. we were video-chatting, and when I mentioned her curse, she kind of threw a chair out of a window. Then, I promised her a large amount of money. She refused. Then, I got the best idea EVER!" she exclaimed. She had that psychopathic smile again. Oh, no.

"I offered to set her up on a date."

"With who?" I asked, slightly worried. I hope it wasn't anyone I knew.

"Mustardseed."

Puck's jaw dropped. He looked like he'd just received a nuclear bomb for Christmas instead of a new car. Then again, he'd probably say that's a good thing. "Did you tell him?" he asked Rose quietly.

"No…" she mumbled awkwardly. "I was kind of hoping you'd do that."

"That… was… the BEST IDEA EVER!" Puck exclaimed, laughing. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"You're happy that your brother is forced to go on a date with a psychopath?" asked Sabrina, looking exasperated.

"Yeah."

"Okay, okay. So what's going on with the hand, Rose?" I asked, not wanted to get distracted by Puck's obvious sibling issues.

She continued her story. "And then, she admitted to me one of the escape attempts. Apparently, a few years ago, Rumpelstiltskin tried to tunnel a hole underground to get to the weakest part of the barrier. It was blown up, but there are still rumors of an escape route."

I had been on the edge of my seat, waiting to hear, but now, my hopes crashed. "Uh, Rose, I kind of just found that out. See, there is a rabbit hole in the backyard that leads to the hole in the barrier. But it's guarded by a ghost kid named Azmuth," I finished in one breath.

"Wow. I did all that for nothing? FML. Great, now I have to go see if I can get any more information out of Karen."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Well, you'd better go tell Mustardseed now. Come on, let's go back downstairs."

We followed Sabrina out of the Chalet of Wonders. Then the doorbell rang again. It was red and Mr. Canis.

"Oh, Basil, you're back," said Mr. Canis when I opened the door. "Red, I owe you five dollars."

"Yay!" said Red cheerfully. "I found something important."

Rose sighed. "Fine, we'll go back upstairs!" We all groaned and went back to the Chalet of Wonders.

"Okay, when we were at the supermarket, my cape blew away," started Red. "Then, I chased it into the cereal aisle. Mr. Nottingham was standing there, and so was Jasmine. And Nottingham was crying about how Heart didn't love him. And Jasmine was telling him to stop crying, because he was being a big baby. And then, she said that if he found the key to the pocket universe, Heart might love him. And then, Nottingham said, 'The one with the twelve girls?' and Jasmine said yes."

"Seriously?" asked Rose. She looked annoyed. "I spent three weeks trying to track down a psychopath when Basil finds out the same stuff in three hours. Then, you go to the supermarket and find a clue?" She looked like she was about to explode.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it," I said.

"I need to feed Cilantro," she said quietly, and then walked out of the house.

5 minutes later, she was back. I opened the door for her.

"OH MY GOSH I JUST SAW DAPHNE MAKING OUT WITH SOME DUDE!"

End of Chapter

**So, we would have updated yesterday, but we didn't finish and I had to go to a Halloween party. If you want details about the party, go to ****.**

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

doglover213: _we're glad you think Puck is well portrayed and that Flamey is hilarious_**. I don't like it when people abuse the hilarity. **_it's always a challenge for us to write Puck, because we're always worried about being OOC. I feel as if we make him a little too mean sometimes… but I'm glad you like it. _**Or we make him seem too stupid. But stupid Puck is fun to write. **

kitty-whiskers: _yeah, Azmuth has a pretty rough existence. _**But at least he can still smile.**

RockSuperstar: **They say that dreams are fluid, and things transcend from your subconscious or whatever they say nowadays. Oh, and Basil talks in his sleep, and Azmuth heard.**

ANannyMouse: **Is your name code for 'Anonymous'? Because if you say it fast enough, it sounds like that. **_If it is, then I have to say, that's pretty clever. Yes, we made up the Coffee Incident. And it's a good idea to use the Chronicles of Narnia. _**I didn't care for the books very much, but I liked the fifth one. And there are a lot of interesting characters and situations that we can use, so we probably will incorporate some ideas from that series.**

TwilitNavi: **Flamey does spell like a kidnapper. I've never noticed before. **_I thought of putting in the 'gingers have no soul' thing, but Basil's a ginger. So, never mind :P_** and the redundant statement is redundant**

Flamey:_ Dude, you read the entire story and you never once bothered to check our profile? The very first line is 'Two idiots with a computer.' _**And for the record, 'Azmuth' is not a name given by idiots. Because in Ben 10, there's a Galvan named Azmuth (creator of the omnitrix, ultimatrix, and unitrix), and the Galvan are the smartest beings in the universe.**_** We love you too, Flamey. **_

Curlscat:_ What kind of job do you have that allows you to read fanfiction while working?__But we're really flattered that you chose to read our story.__** Thank you for sending us 19 reviews.**_** Now we will try to answer them. Ch.1: Sorry about the age thing. We weren't really thinking. **_Ch.2: They probably would have gotten more normal… but crazy(ish) people are more fun to write about. _**Ch.3: Well, when you keep a secret for a long time, it gets harder and harder to keep it, and that's why they're doing such a terrible job right now.**_Ch.4: Peter's reason for thinking Sabrina is dead will be revealed later. (next chapter) _**Ch.5: We forget to underline titles sometimes. **_Ch.6: we're glad you liked Sabrina and Daphne's journals. They were fun to write. _**Ch.7: The starfish thing was my idea, since I'm just that much fun. **_Ch.8: Well, we had to do something to get the story moving. :D _**Ch.9: It was, once. I remember when we used to update this every other day. Of course, that was the summer, when neither of us had anything important to do. **_Ch. 10: Glinda left the Scarlet hand and became good. At least in this story, anyway. _**Ch. 11: Ah, yes. The scrawny kid has triumphed over Marvin. He deserved it. Why? Because it was funny. **_Ch. 12: Umm… we kind of forgot that Snow and Charming never actually got married. Oh, well. We'll make up a reason later._**Ch.13: We're sure about Houdini's name. And about Bluebeard: it's one of the two books we don't have, so we haven't read it in a while. **_Ch.14: Well, Amy's older sister came, but she just hung out in Ontario the whole time. There's more about this in an upcoming chapter. _**Ch.15: it's relevant to an escape. **_Ch.17: The hung-over Puck was fun to write. The shadowing… we described that a little, but we didn't want to go into detail. _**Ch. 18: Basil fell down a rabbit hole and hit his head really hard. **_Ch.19: it was a big rabbit hole. And we really liked writing Azmuth, so we're glad you did, too._

Jelly babes 101: **Cilantro was originally a dog, but we decided that a Jabberwocky was more fun. **_We're glad you like the story. _

NoraeKaye: _Hmm, you really have your heart set on that, don't you? Thanks for the suggestion, but the idea wouldn't really fit into our story. This is a Basil story, remember. However, it sounds like a good story for you to write on your own. _**Besides, this is how I imagine Sabrina and Puck having children: **

**Puck: I'm Home!**

**Daughter: Daddy, look what I pulled out of Brother's mouth! *opens fist, holding all her brother's teeth***

**Son: *flies through the air and kicks his sister in the face* That was fun!**

**Sabrina: Nice kick, son. But you may want to try it on Daddy first!**

** Parodied? Yes, but their children would turn out like psychopaths. **_Besides, we can't really write romance. _**We try, but we stinck at it.**_ Wait, Apocalypse, you typed 'sitnk' wrong._** Shut up.**


	21. Chapter 21

Authors' Note: _we're back. I guess we should apologize for the cliffy .We're sorry. We couldn't resist. It just seemed like a really cool way to end the chapter. It was also a good excuse to characterize Basil a little more. _**Plus, we had it planned for a while and we were really excited about it. Two plus two is five. **We do not own the Sisters Grimm.

Chapter 21

"Wait, what?" asked Sabrina.

Rose repeated slowly. "I. Just. Saw. Daphne. Making. Out. With . Some. Dude."

"Well, do you know who it was?" asked Sabrina.

"Aww, the little marshmallow's found love at last!" said Puck sarcastically. "Let's try and find out so we can blackmail her into doing stuff for us. Like the laundry."

Sabrina threw a roll of gorilla tape at his head. "Why wouldn't she tell us? And who is this guy, anyway? Do we know him?"

"Umm, I didn't really see his face, but he was wearing a leather jacket."

"What's so important about that?" I asked.

"It had his name on it," said Rose.

"What was the name?" prompted Sabrina.

"Jim Hawkins."

"Like from Treasure Island?" I asked.

Rose nodded enthusiastically.

"Is he hot?" asked Sabrina.

Puck scowled. "Can you talk about this when I'm not around?" he asked, annoyed.

I kind of agreed with him. "Yeah. I don't exactly enjoy hearing how hot some guy is. It sounds so shallow."

"Fine," said Rose flippantly. She turned back to Sabrina. "Okay, so he's really, hot. He's got brown hair that's always really tussled and these shiny coppery brown eyes, and he's got that whole half-shaven look, like he's all, 'I'm too young for a full beard, but I'm just too busy with my amazing life to have time to shave'.

I noticed Puck feeling his face. Probably wondering if he had that 'whole half-shaven look like's he all I'm too young for a full beard, but I'm too busy with my amazing life to have time to shave' thing going on.

"I'm going upstairs," I said. I really didn't need to hear about Daphne's boyfriend and his lovely hair. I was happy for Daphne, but the idea of hearing about it was weird. To me, she was always the cheerful, happy-go-lucky, always-there-for-me sister. I always thought of her as my freaky sister, the one who I'm a little embarrassed to talk about in public, but the one who's always ready for fun. I could never really see her in a relationship. It was like seeing a teacher in the grocery store: you know that they have to go grocery shopping like everyone else, but you were so used to seeing them one way that you forgot they had a normal life.

Thinking about Daphne in a relationship with some guy made me feel weird. It wasn't like Puck and Sabrina, who'd been together almost as long as I'd known them. It's strange, for me to know someone so well and then realize they have a life outside of the way you know them.

Wow, that makes me sound like I have to be the center of everything. Wait. Am I like that? Hmm. There was the sausage thing. And the fact that on Christmas Eve's eve I snuck down the stairs with a baseball bat because I had to find out what was going on. And the fact that I wanted to be included in the family business and know everything. And look how many times I wrote the word 'I'. I have uncovered a serious character defect in myself: I have to be involved in everything. I always have to be doing something.

Okay, I'm pretty sure it's unhealthy to sit and think about my personality, so I'm going to go do something. Oh, crap, there I go again.

..~0~..

I went to get some coffee and had a really weird, random conversation about the lady who owns the place. It went something like this:

I picked up my coffee cup.

"You're using your left hand?" the lady noticed. I looked down. I hadn't even realized.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Isn't that hard? Or are you lefty or something?"

"Actually, I am."

"You know what they say about left-handed people?" We then had this whole chat about spiritual voodoo, lefties, and right-handed people.

Then, someone I hadn't seen in a while came in: Uncle Jake.

"Hi, I'll take a coffee," he said.

The lady looked confused. "What kind?"

"The regular kind."

"What do you mean, 'regular kind'? We have frappucinos, decaf, latte, iced—"

"Fine, then. I'll take the African blend. That was the kind Briar always—Oh, never mind." Then he noticed me. "Basil! You got taller!"

I knew I hadn't gotten any taller, but I smiled and nodded just to be a good nephew.

"How's everything here?" he asked.

I sipped my coffee. "It's good. But—" here I lowered my voice. "Did you hear about the Hand?"

He looked around warily. "Yes. What do you think I've been doing lately?"

"Umm… I don't know. Wandering around the planet in a state of extreme boredom, looking for something to do to take your mind off of the fact that you're almost fifty?"

"Besides that. And I'm not almost fifty. I'm almost forty-nine. Huge difference." He winked.

"Okay, then, what?"

"Keeping contact with overseas Everafters."

"Why… Oh. In case there was another problem, and we needed help?"

He grinned. "So you know everything about the family now?"

"Yeah," I said proudly.

"Good. So I've made a sort of… alliance amongst those of us who would help if there was another Scarlet Hand problem. Sabrina and Daphne have kept contact and told me about what's going on, although they don't know what I've been doing. I tracked down Evan Weiss."

"Wait, who?"

"Harry Houdini's closest living relative. He knew about a lot of escapes, but he was very old when I found him, and he passed away before I could find anything out."

"That's a definite drawback."

"It is, but he gave me some clues. Let's go back to the house and talk about it."

He lead me out front to his shiny black corvette.

"Nice car," I commented, wondering how he could afford a car like that, as he didn't seem to do any kind of formal work.

"It belonged to Evan. He may have been old, but he had great taste in cars."

End Of Chapter

Authors' Note: **we decided to be emotional today. **_And we felt that characterization was necessary. And Uncle Jake needed to appear at some point. _**We may move him away at some point, but he's here for now.**

Doglover231: **Sorry for misspelling your name. We're idiots of a special breed. **_As for the amount of flames: well, it's really just flamey. _**Although I did post a Kane Chronicles story and get a flame. It wasn't flamey, though, it was a girl. I think I should introduce them. **_And no review is a sucky review. Some are better than others, but we love all reviews. _

Noraekaye: **Glad you liked the thing with Puck's kids. **_If we ever did write a story about their kids, it would be a total, cracky parody. _**As for Rose… well, we don't really like using only canon characters. **_In real life, you're not going to be with the same people 24/7. You'd get bored and go insane. __**We're really glad you like our OCs. **_

RockSuperstar: **Daphne needs a boyfriend besides Mustardseed. There's nothing wrong with him, it's just a little too much of a 'leftover pairing'. **_And Daphne is her own person, so she deserves a relationship that isn't Puckabrina Part II. And we're glad you like the betting. _**It was my idea! And thanks for understanding about Puck And Sabrina's kid, it just wouldn't work in our story. **

yorkie999777000: _we had that planned for so long. So happy you liked it._** And Daphne's grown up at this point. Sure she's still sweet, but she's an adult, too.**

ANannyMouse: **Any specific Narnia characters? How many people actually figured the 'A nanny mouse' thing? Because now I feel smart. **_And a mouse that babysits and never told anyone her name? That's so cute._

Flamey: **I learned that I should be in a mental hospital a looong time ago. And I also learned that you need spell-check badly. **_And I don't expect anyone to watch ben 10. I don't. _

County: (AKA the accounted flaming reviewer) **I loved that bit of grammar. **_And the betting was fun to write._

twilitNavi:_Thanks for teaching flamey to spell. And did you say your stepmother is insane? I thought that was only in fairytales. _**Also, thanks for explaining the Red Shoes.**


	22. Chapter 22

Authors' Note: **So we really have got to get the timeline moving. **_Hopefully, this chapter will speed things up a little. Oh, and this chapter has a sentimental scene, so if you don't like that sort of thing, sorry._

Chapter 22

It was getting dark now, and Uncle Jake and I had just pulled into the driveway when we noticed another car. Not Sabrina's car, not Daphne's car, not even Puck's car. It was my dad's car.

Have you ever seen those movies where the parents go away and the kids have a wild party, and they just barely finish cleaning up when the parents get home, and you have the feeling of relief that they finished cleaning, but also of extreme annoyance and anxiety that they'll find out and never leave you alone again? That's pretty much what I felt like. Now I couldn't do anything to help without excessive coaxing and sneaking around. My heart sank at the thought of leaving everyone else to deal with the Scarlet Hand while I was forced to stay in the city.

I walked up the steps and entered the house. Of course, my parents were there.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad. How was the business trip?" I tried to sound casual, instead of disappointed. They were wearing extremely formal clothing, like they were at a wedding or something.

"It was fine. Did you have fun with your sisters?" asked my mom. She came over and embraced me. She smelled faintly of tequila. I did not want to know why.

"Yeah, it was okay," I replied calmly.

My dad examined me carefully. "You haven't been doing anything you shouldn't be, have you? Like helping out with this Scarlet Hand business?"

"Me? Uh, no. But I didn't know I wasn't allowed to be involved. I mean, I'm not saying I have, but even if I was, I didn't know I wasn't allowed, so I shouldn't get in trouble, right?" I stumbled, trying to tell a decent lie.

"Of course you're allowed to help, honey. You're a Grimm; this is the family business," said my mom gently. She looked at my dad. "Right, Henry?"

My dad looked awkward. He ran his hair through his hand nervously. "Well, I was hoping you wouldn't get involved," he began.

"Dad! Why?" I asked. Maybe I was whining, but seriously, after all those promises to tell me about Everafters, it wasn't fair that I couldn't help.

He sighed. "Because, Basil, my father died because of Everafters," he explained shakily.

"I don't want that to happen to my only son."

"Technically, that was my fault," said Uncle Jake, who had just entered the house. "I'm going to go put my stuff away." He walked upstairs.

"Wait, whoa, back up a minute. Hold the freaking phone. And it's okay if we get eaten alive by Jabberwockies because we're girls?" demanded Daphne. I jumped a little, because I hadn't noticed her. Sabrina and Puck were standing right behind her.

With everyone standing there, Dad just looked more awkward. And slightly embarrassed, as if he knew he would regret what he was about to admit. "No, not because you're girls. I'm sorry; let me explain. I meant to say, I didn't want any of you to have to deal with this. But with you two… by the time your mother and I woke up, there was nothing we could do to keep you two away. With Basil, we got a second chance, and I don't want to ruin that chance, too."

The room was dead silent. "I didn't know you felt that way, Dad," said Sabrina quietly.

I think my dad teared up a little back there. "It's just… I feel like we missed so much. I don't know, maybe I'm just being overbearing, but I can't help it."

Daphne burst into tears and hugged Dad. Puck inched slowly out of the room. I guess he had a tendency to ruin these moments, and in his own weird way was trying to keep the moment going.

"Look," said Sabrina. Her voice wavered, but she shook her head in annoyance. "The morning Daphne and I woke up and you two weren't there… I should have known that things weren't going to be the same again. But I guess I didn't want to let go of that. So I just kept believing that things would get back to normal. I didn't stop believing that until we ended up here. So at first, I tried to run away, but after such a long time, it felt so good to have some sort of family. A really small part of me didn't care that the town was full of freaks like that," she pointed to where Puck had been standing, not noticing that he was gone, "so when you two came back, I felt like something impossible had happened. Only, it wasn't how I expected, so I guess ever since, I've been less of a daughter to you than I should be."

"It's the same with me," choked Daphne, tears streaming down her face. "I actually liked living here, so when you two tried to take us back, I pushed you away so I could stay with everything here!"

"Oh, girls," said my mother softly, embracing them both.

"I'm sorry I tried to believe that everything would go back to normal again," said Dad. "I should have realized that things wouldn't be the same."

"Maybe not the same," I said finally, feeling a bit awkward, because everyone was crying, "But things can be good again."

Sabrina looked at me, analyzing my expression. "You're right, Basil," she finally said. "I mean, change is good. The tears cease and life goes on." She turned to Dad. "It's settled, then. Basil should be able to help us. End of story."

End of story. An ironic statement, considering the fact that we lived in a town where everything happened after the end of the story.

"And he can… but first we have to go back to the city," said Mom firmly.

"Say whaaaaat?" shrieked Daphne. "After that whole tearful, emotional scene, you're still making him go back?"

"Well, I have to go to school," I pointed out.

"I didn't say we're going now," laughed Mom. "Besides, it's summer. No school, remember? And after the…" she looked at my father and they exchanged secretive glances, "Business trip, we won't have to go back to work for a while."

"Why, what happened?" asked Sabrina. "What did you do?"

"Nothing. We didn't do anything… it was everyone else," Dad mumbled. "The boss decided that it would be too awkward for everyone to come back to work for a week, so we're off."

I wondered what happened. But then I decided that some things were better left mysteries.

..~0~..

The next day, I went to see Rose. She was really excited, more excited than usual. I guess she'd gotten over the 'Karen' thing. Apparently, her birthday was Saturday. (If I'm looking back on this at any point, today is Tuesday)

"Hey Basil," she greeted. "Listen, I'm having my fifteenth birthday party Saturday, and I want your opinion."

"Okay, on what?" I asked.

"My outfit," she said, grinning.

Oh, dear God. Please please please let her change her mind about that. I hated shopping. And then there were the times my mom took me shopping when shopping with me… that was my own personal hell.

"Uh, can't you get Daniella to help you?" I asked. "I'm not really great at fashion, so—"

She cut me off. "She's out with Robert, and she won't pick up, and I need someone to help me. I don't want to ask my mom, because she doesn't know how teenagers dress. And if I get my dad to come, he'll just spend the whole time at Armani. Please?"

Those wide blue eyes and their long fluttery black lashes must have gotten to me, so I said, "Yes." I swear, she must have been taught some sort of spell to control men.

She squealed happily. "Come on!" She dragged me to the small Ferryport Landing Shopping Center. For such a small place, I had no idea there were so many designer stores.

We went to some perky store where 'Material Girls' blared in the background and girls with abnormally colored hair ran around, excited by the outfits. There were guys like me, looking awkward and holding a hundred different outfits, while whatever girl they were with handed them even more clothes. Rose, luckily, was capable of handling her own clothes.

"Okay, what do you think of this dress?" she asked, walking out in a bright pink floor length dress.

"Too long. Aren't you going to trip?"

"True… What about this one?" she walked into the dressing room. In a flash, she walked back out in a short, tight, ripped baby blue one.

"Definitely not," she said to herself. I kind of liked it, but I guess her parents would kill her for dressing like such a slut.

Two salesgirls, one with brown hair streaked with pink, the other with black hair streaked with blue, came up to her, holding a selection of dresses. I groaned inwardly, because such a variety would keep her there a while.

"Try this one," suggested the pink streaked one. She held a pale green dress with rhinestone straps and what appeared to be a long train.

Rose tried it. The train got caught on the door, and she tripped.

"Guess not. What about this one?" offered the blue streaked one, offering Rose a ruffled, glittery blue gown. "It brings out your eyes."

She stepped into the dressing room again and put it on. It did bring out her eyes, but the coloring also rubbed off on her skin. Her hands were blue where she'd touched it.

"Of course, there's also this one," said the two girls in unison, holding out a dress. By now, I had lost interest and was staring into space.

"What about this one?" Rose asked me. She walked out in a gold lace dress.

"That's really nice. Can we go now?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. You know, Basil, you should never go to Spain."

"Why?" I asked. I still wasn't paying attention, because clothing stores have that kind of 'zoning out' effect on me.

"Because there, a girl's fifteenth birthday is very important. I should know, I was there for about twenty years."

"Wait, what?" I snapped out of my trance.

"See you, Basil," she called, walking away. I swear, I saw her smirking. The two salesgirls looked at me sadly.

"Oh, Basil, when will you learn?" asked the pink-streaked one.

"I know. Tragic, isn't it?" replied the other.

"I mean, really! We've come up with ideas where you end up m—"

"Apocalypse! We can't give that away yet! Keep your mouth shut!"

"Sorry."

"Who are you two?" I demanded. They were creeping me out.

"We are the puppetmasters of your life," said the blue streaked one mysteriously.

"We control you, and the emotions of everyone around you. We even control… the weather."

"The weather? We don't control the weather!" said Blue streaks.

"Well then how come I said it would rain Wednesday, and it did?" demanded Pink streaks.

"Freaks," I muttered, and walked away.

End of Chapter

Authors' Note: **So we put a lot of effort into this chapter. We even broke the fourth wall. **_Reviews would be nice._

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

DogLover231: **You're not the dumbest! Flamey's the dumbest. He actually used to leave reviews with good spelling, but now look at them. **_PS stands for postscript. I don't get it either. __**And we like reading your reviews.**_

A.R.G.: _Yeah… I love reading fanfiction when it's way too late to be up. _**I'm a nine o' clock person. Anyone else? No? **_Glad you thought it funny. we have a lot of fun writing it. And a girl named Sabrina met an actual Daphne Grimm?Cool._

HikaruLite: **well, sometimes the parents slow them down, so we might write him out at some point. But don't worry; **_we won't kill him off, even if he goes away he'll always come back._

ANannyMouse: _Definitely Puddleglum, he's funny. _**I like Lucy**_, she's my favorite of the four. Not sure when we'll write them in, but we definitely will._

Randomness156: **Thank you for seeing the thing with Daphne. **_I didn't actually think about the fact that Mustardseed is technically her brother, I just thought she needed someone who represented the fact that Sabrina and Daphne are very different._

yorkie999777000: **Ian Somerhalder sometimes has the half-shaven look. **_I think he looks good with it, _**I don't. And he's old enough for a beard. **_He's not old enough for a beard, Cal. And let's face it, he's hot. Do yourself a favor and Google him. _**He's thirty three! But he is hot.**

Twilit Navi: **No, Flamey still flamed… **_but we appreciate the effort. _**we don't care about him that much anymore. **_But watching him get angry is funny, which is why we let him stick around instead of disabling anonymous reviews._

Flamey: **I want you to take a deep breath, have some pancakes and hot chocolate, and listen to the soundtrack of Mamma Mia. You will feel better. **_Also, we'd rather write about sluts and stupid people rather than Sues. Oh, and what is 'uicide'?_**And what are 'likonms'?**

Sunnyvale Bunny: **Flamey used to have decent spelling, but then… we don't know what happned.**

***Note for everyone to read* I have a blog now! So if anyone wants to check it out, the URL is www (dot) calscommentary (dot) wordpress (dot) com**


	23. Chapter 23

Authors' Note: **So we've got roughly an hour to type this **_because Apocalypse is temporarily banned from the computer. _**We do Not own The Sister Grimm. Anyway, judging by all the arguing we do while writing, we're going to need more than an hour. **

Chapter 23

If I had to use one word to describe Rose's party, it would be… wow. Just wow. I cannot come up with another word. Let me explain why.

I was getting ready to leave for the party. It was five minutes to eight. The party started at eight, so I figured I'd be 'fashionably late', as my mother puts it. Who comes to parties on time, anyway?

I was going downstairs, and my mom tried to stop me because I wasn't wearing a tie.

"Basil, I think you should wear a tie."

"Why?"

"Because it's going to be a fancy party, that's why."

"How do you know it's going to be fancy?"

"Well, I was talking to Snow the other day, and—" The rest I tuned out.

"I don't think I have a tie with me, Mom." I had one tie. It was supposed to be for a school play in third grade. It had porcupines playing darts on it*. I was not wearing that to a party.

"Okay, fine. Have fun!"

..~0~..

When I got to the party, about forty other people had shown up. Not one other boy wore a tie. There was some kid with a black afro wig and a sack shirt and zebra pajama pants who kept going up to random girls and dancing with them*. They looked at him like he was insane.

Rose was there, wearing the gold dress. She was standing near a small stage where a band played really loud music. She saw me and came over.

"Hey, Basil! Glad you could make it!" she yelled over the loud music. She looked really good. Her dark hair was curled and piled up with a little gold clip-thingy and bright pink lipstick.

"Happy Birthday!" I yelled back. "Who's that kid in zebra pants?" I handed her her gift. I couldn't think what to get for her, so I went with the safest option: an iTunes gift card. Hey, it works for everyone with an iPod. I hope Rose never finds this out, but I've been doing it for years.

"I have no idea who the kid is! I should probably ask." She walked away and went up to the guy. I watched as she tried to ask him who he was. He just kept dancing. Finally, she gave up and left him alone, since he seemed harmless.

Within the next thirty minutes, everyone showed up at the party. The band was called the Fake Mustache Dudes, and they were really good. And loud. The music was deafening, just the way I like it.

Robert walked up to me after a while. "Can you hear anything above the music?" he screamed.

"Who the hell cares?" I called back. "This is epic!"

The kid in zebra pants walked up to me and started dancing. He motioned for us to start a conga line.

Robert shrugged. "What the heck," he and the zebra kid just started the conga line. Rose joined them, and so did a few other people who I'd met at one time or another.

I started talking to some people who'd I'd known from previous summers here. Caleb, the kid who I'd once won a three-legged race with, invited me to come play volleyball on the roof. Marvin and three other guys went, too. It was all good fun until the ball rolled off the roof and into the pool. Marvin suggested we jump off the roof and into the pool, but no one else was in the mood to get sent to the hospital.

We went inside, where several people had set up Spin the Bottle with a bottle of Coke. I decided to join.

It turns out that girls from Ferryport Landing are the best kissers ever. I was hoping to kiss Rose, but she wasn't playing. But I did end up kissing Daniella, and a girl named Nina who I used to make mud pies with. And this girl named Alicia, who seemed like a total idiot but kissed really well. All of them did, except for Sophie. Some people called her, 'Slutty Sophie'. She flirted with every single boy, and from the way she was dancing, I understood why they called her 'Slutty'. When the bottle landed on her, I groaned inwardly. She practically chewed my face off. After that, I had to excuse myself to wash her saliva off my face. I'm sorry, but that was not hot. At all. It was like… you know what? I'll do you a favor and skip the description.

Anyway, it was around eleven thirty. People were starting to leave, and it was getting near that awkward moment when you just know the party's over and everyone except the hostess and a few close friends are still there. That was when I saw Rose, standing outside on the balcony alone. She looked like she was thinking hard.

"Great party," I said, coming over to her. She turned around, looking startled.

"Basil. I didn't hear you. Is anyone still here?" she asked, twisting her bracelets around.

"Only Robert, Marvin, Daniella, and a couple other people who are waiting for their ride. It's pretty much over."

"Oh." She looked a little sad for some reason. She sighed deeply, and then said, "You do know it's not really my fifteenth birthday, right?"

"I kind of figured that," I admitted.

"Yeah. It's a bit depressing, actually. I still remember my fifth birthday."

"Oh," I said. I didn't really know what else to say.

"Back then, we had a castle. It was… I don't even know how to describe it. Magnificent. My life was every little girl's dream. I even had a pony.

"Of course, my parents never got along. And there were the times when I hated being told to behave. But I'm not complaining: I wouldn't have chosen any other way to live. And then… I don't know what happened, but suddenly, my parents decided that they hated each other, and I was stuck in the middle. Maybe I should have tried to make them fix their problems, but I only saw it as them trying to ruin my perfect life. So I got mad and ran away."

"You were five, and you ran away?"

"I was seven. And it's not as if I was alone. I made friends. Actually, I knew most of your ancestors, but that's not the point. I spent a long time wandering around Europe with them. And I saw all the hell that went on in the world, and I realized, that these were all adult problems. So I decided not to grow up."

"So you were seven for five hundred years?"

She shrugged. "A little more than that, I think. God, that sounds so depressing. The point is, Basil, I wasn't happy until I realized that I had to grow up and deal with the fact that the world wasn't perfect. There were problems whether I wanted to face them or not. And honestly, it's better just to face them."

I thought about what she said. Learning to deal with problems…I didn't have an issue with that. Sometimes I think that I try to fix everyone else's issues. But right now, I had to fix my own personal problems. As in, my emotional ones, which I try to avoid.

So I kissed her.

It wasn't like New Years', or like the Christmas party, when it was all random impulse. This was real. I really did like Rose. And apparently, since she kissed me back, she felt the same way.

Wow. I probably sound like a twelve year old fangirl reading Twilight or some crap like that. I should probably start writing about something less awkward, like the fact that someone started screaming right after we finished kissing.

"What the hell was that?" I asked. The moment was broken and replaced with the fast, heart-pounding atmosphere of a horror movie.

We ran inside. There, lying on the floor, was Sophie. With a knife stuck in her chest.

..~0~..

After that, everything was kind of a blur. The remaining guests rushed around, calling the police and the hospital. I was on 'door duty', waiting for the police to show up and informing them of what had happened. I was feeling a little guilty about calling her 'Slutty' and everything.

I told this to Marvin, who looked at me like I was crazy. "Well, she was a slut," he said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah… but aren't you supposed to like, I don't know, treat the dead with respect?"

"Everyone dies eventually, Basil. So wouldn't that mean you have to respect everyone?"

"Uh… isn't that a good thing?" I said.

He frowned. "Think about all those dead celebrities and psychopathic politicians. Do they deserve respect?"

I thought about that for a while. Hmmm. "I guess some people… but only the really bad ones. And then, I think you should just avoid talking about them."

"I don't concur. See ya." Marvin walked away.

Marvin is a little weird sometimes. He's all 'doom and gloom', and then he goes back to normal. WTF?

By now, the ambulance had arrived. I wasn't sure what they hoped to do, but they loaded Sophie's body onto a gurney and drove away with the sirens blaring.

Rose and I stood there in the doorway for a while, but we didn't really say anything. Then, as I was about to leave, I saw the mark.

A scarlet handprint, and the words, 'That's only the beginning' under it. Painted on the floor where Sophie's body had been.

"Curiouser and curiouser," whispered Rose.

End of Chapter

Authors' Note: 

* _This was from a book by Jerry Spinelli. Anyone want to guess which one? I highly recommend it, if you know which book I'm talking about. _

***The kid in the sack shirt and zebra pajama pants and Afro wig is real. I was at my friend's Halloween party and he showed up. No one knew who he was, and at one point, he came up and started dancing with me. Awkward.**

Lea and Cal read reviews

ANannyMouse: **breaking the fourth wall basically means **_when the writer of the story or a character speaks directly to the audience. _**There will be a lot of Basil/Rose…** _although I think this chapter may have answered your question._** And it would actually be really cool if you wrote a fanfic based on this fanfic. And no, we don't do NaNo WriMo. **

DogLover231: _No, it's not weird that you laugh at your own comments. I do it all the time, 'cause I'm just that hilarious. LOL JK. _**Lea isn't funny.**

Randomness156: _You have no idea how much fun it is to break the fourth wall. _**I just want to give everything away: Scream the plot in Basil's face and see how he reacts. **_Cal, you know that Basil's a figment of our imagination, right?_

HikaruLite: **yeah, he's gonna stick around. **_I never really saw him as a parental figure either; to me, he's like Sirius Black was to Harry Potter. _

RockSuperstar: **So did we break the fourth wall properly? **_We're going to have a lot of fun when Basil tries to convince his parents to move to Ferryport Landing. _**it's a quite hectic scene, I'm looking forward to it. **

NoraeKaye: **Flamey wasn't here this chapter… Wonder what happened to him. **_we're glad you think Rose is well-defined; we really try to bring our characters to life. Actually, sometimes it feels like they are people and we're not making up their actions, we're just trying to guess what they would do._** That's all the time for me.**

GreekHuntress: _We work hard on Basil's personality, and the plot, so we're glad you like it. _**I thought that Harry Houdini would be the perfect part for this story, because he was kind of a crossroad between magic and reality. **_He performed great magic tricks, but he was actually a notorious skeptic when it came to the supernatural._

Cat: **the Coffee Incident isn't real. **_It's just a made-up situation that we like to allude to. It's kind of our personal joke. Like in __Malcolm in the Middle__, where you never know their last name, __Home Improvement__ where you never see the neighbor's entire face, in the __Hunger Games, __where you never know the names of Katniss or Peeta's parents._


	24. Chapter 24

Authors' Note: _Hi. Yes, we're alive. And yes, we're morons for not updating for three weeks. We felt that we needed to take a short hiatus, _**because we do have lives**_. __**And we figured that since the last chapter wasn't our best, so we decided to take a this is where we get the plot moving.**__ We were supposed to mention it at the end of the last chapter, but we forgot. And we don't like to post ANs as chapters. _We do not own The Sisters Grimm.

Chapter 24

For some reason, the day after a party, or some other kind of event always seems so boring. Not today, though. I think everyone was a little jumpy about the murder. I was having a little trouble making the connection, though. What connection did Sophie have to the Scarlet Hand?

I decided to ask Sabrina about it. She's more serious than Daphne, so I though she'd be the better person to ask.

"Sophie? She's dead?" asked Sabrina in alarm.

"Yeah, didn't you know? I thought Mom or Dad would have told you."

"Basil, this is bad. Really bad. Don't you realize the significance?"

"So she was an Everafter? Which one?" I asked.

"An ugly stepsister," said Sabrina, shaking her head in distaste.

"She didn't seem that ugly, though."

"They exaggerated. Did you ever see a picture of Cinderella before she aged herself? She was pretty, to the point where normal girls looked ugly compared to her," she explained.

"Oh. But why would the Scarlet Hand kill her, then?" I asked.

"She was part of the resistance movement in the first war."

"The one where I was possessed?"

Sabrina gave me an annoyed look. "Yes, that one. Anyway, now that the Scarlet Hand's getting strong again, she must have done something to anger them."

"What do you think she did?" I questioned.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Something."

We sat there in silence for a while until Daphne walked in. "Hey, did you guys hear about Sophie? Basil, you were at that party, right?"

"Yeah, I was. But I can't think of anyone there who could do it."

"Actually, I was going to go over there and investigate. You two had better come, this is probably important."

Sabrina jumped up. "Yeah, we'd better. I mean, we all know that the police have been useless since Hamstead left, and that was like, twelve years ago. Basil, you wanted to be involved, right? Come on."

I got up, too. Finally, something was going to happen. I had a feeling that this was going to be very interesting.

..~0~..

As we got in the car and drove back to the Charmings' house, a strange thought crossed my mind. "If the police are so useless," I began, "and apparently we're the ones who actually solve all the crimes, how come no one in our family is a cop?"

"Well, for one thing," answered Daphne, "The uniforms are so unflattering! They don't have enough pockets, and they're just so boring."

"Plus, they don't even give you good weapons. Just a gun. They could at least use katanas and ninja stars and maces. Even a baseball bat would work. But no, the state won't permit it. Relax, people, I'm kidding," said Sabrina, smirking as she noticed the looks on our faces. "Oh look, we're here."

There were a ton of cars parked all over the place. The decorations from last night were all ripped and looked pretty depressing. There was even a group of reporters standing outside. Rose's father was talking to them.

"I realize that there was a murder at my house, and I fully intend to get to the bottom of it. Until then, we can only hope that the murderer meets justice. It is highly unlikely that the incident was caused by poor security, and I express sympathy for poor Sophie's family."

The reporters were totally falling for Charming's politically correct speech. 'Politically correct' meaning 'suck-up, non-offensive, small talk that's really just a bunch of Bullshit'.

"Lies and high fashion," muttered Daphne, looking disgusted. "Like Pretty Little Liars."

"What?"

"Never mind."

"Oh good, Snow's here," said Sabrina. "She'll say the smart thing."

We crossed the lawn and stood near the throng of reporters as Rose's mother cleared her throat. "Excuse me, but it would really be more beneficial to everyone if you all just left. We have a team coming to investigate the murder, and your presence would hinder their investigation. If you have any questions, come back in two hours and we shall answer them to the best of our ability."

Her speech was precise, smooth, and professional. She was clearly intelligent and capable. What the hell was she doing with Charming?

The crowd left, and we stepped to the front. "Oh good, you're here," said Snow. She led us into the room where Sophie was killed. "The writing's still on the floor, but it's a little smudged."

"'That's only the beginning'," read Daphne. "Hmm. The beginning. Well, this person was a total shnoob."

"Shnoob? Really, Daphne? You're the only person I know who would describe a murderer as a shnoob. What the heck is a shnoob, anyway?" remarked Sabrina.

"A 'shnoob' is a moron who thinks they know everything. Duh."

"Well, why was this person a… 'shnoob'?" asked Mrs. Charming.

"Because they wrote it in Sharpie using their own handwriting, and then went over it in blood," I realized. "So that means that whoever did it had it all planned out. Right?"

"But when would they have had time to do that?" Sabrina pointed out. "If everyone was in this room, how did the murderer not get noticed?"

"That's not possible," said a voice from behind me. I jumped, then realized it was Rose.

I felt really awkward. I mean, not because we had kissed, but because we were kissing while someone got murdered. How do you explain that to your sisters? I hoped that Rose didn't want to talk about that in front of her mom.

Luckily, she didn't. "Marvin and Daniella and Robert were in the room when it happened, and they said that the lights went out for a second." She sounded so serious that it was unnatural. "But I don't get it: How can you murder someone—and leave a mark on the floor—in a second?"

"Shoes of swiftness, maybe?" asked Sabrina.

"Didn't we lose those?" wondered Daphne.

"Exactly, that's why the Scarlet Hand might have them. But that doesn't sound like something the Shoes would be useful for."

"Actually," said Rose, "There are a ton of magical artifacts other than the Shoes that could work for something like that. I've come across some of them." She was starting to get that creepy look. "Possibly an invisibility device. Or maybe…"

"It's like that movie Click," I said.

"What?" asked Sabrina.

"It was on the other night. You know, the one about the magic remote that stops time?"

"Like Father Time's clock," said Daphne reminiscently. "Remember when that opened up?"

"And I got sucked into a dystopian future? Yes, I remember that. And I was stuck with parallel versions of you two," said Charming, who had stepped inside.

"Yeah, we were so gravy!" said Daphne. "Well, Sabrina and Puck were. Parallel Me was all emo and depressed and not that gravy. But I had a cool scar!"

An Emo Daphne? That was just so weird and wrong. Sabrina frowned, as if she didn't like it either. "I didn't like that future. And I nearly threw up when I found out that Puck and I were married."

"Where was I?" I asked, hoping to change the subject. Plus, I was curious.

"We didn't know you were alive," replied Daphne cheerfully.

"Okay, okay. Back to the murder," insisted Sabrina. "Now, Rose, do you think you can look into this, and have it ready by tomorrow?"

I thought Rose would say that she was busy, but she nodded. "Okay, sure." She ran up the stairs.

We spent the rest of the afternoon searching the room for clues, but we couldn't find any. Oh, well. At least tomorrow should be interesting.

End of Chapter

Authors' Note: **We apologize for the shortness. I blame it all on Cerulean. **_But the lateness was both of our fault. We're so sorry. Actually, I'm surprised we didn't get any 'Are you going to continue this, because you haven't updated in a while' reviews. __**Just so you guys know, we're finishing this no matter what. Even if a meteor falls out of the sky right now and kills us, we'll update from the afterlife **__LOL._

TwilitNavi: **the thing about the little girl riding the donkey is so weird. But then again, our dad once saw a goat run by while he was walking to his car. **_And this was in New York __City__. 99% of the girls at your school are slutty? Wow, that's sad. _**99% of the people in my grade never shut up. I am part of the 1%. **

Cat:**We're glad you liked it, and we're glad you're no longer confused. **_And we're glad you liked this chapter. _

SistersGbooklover4ever: **Yeah, there are two of us. **_Sometimes we write separately, but for this one we're working together because we think we're funnier when we're together. _

RockstarGurl4444:** Really? I hate Jerry Spinelli. **_Don't listen to her. They're good, especially __Stargirl.__ My favorite teacher ever made us read it in fifth grade. _**She made us read ****Loser****. I know I'm a loser, but reading about one was just depressing. **_**Glad you like the twist, though. **_

GreekHuntress: _Thanks for reading and reviewing both this and __The Hangover of Olympus__. And I tend to choose FF over sleep sometimes, too. _**The kid with the afro wig scared me. **_I would have probably started dancing with him too. _

NoraeKaye: **We have to thank you a lot for your review. You went from begging us for a Puckabrina child to writing us something very helpful. **_We really appreciate constructive criticism. Now that we look back on it, we can understand where we went wrong. And thanks for getting my __Stargirl__ reference. _

DogLover231: **I don't actually know how to tune people out. Cerulean does it to me. **_Only when she tries to talk to me when I'm reading, though. It's a very useful skill. But only do it when you're 100% sure that what they're saying isn't thinking about something that interests you. _**Am I the only one who wouldn't dance with the zebra dude? I was hiding my friend from her brother!**

Randomness156: **They are cute. Like two little plants. Yes, I named her 'Rose' on purpose, because basil and rose are both plants. **_And yeah, their families will find out at some point. _

yorkie999777000: _I think this chapter answered your questions about Sophie's importance. _

ANannyMouse: **The rushed quality of the chapter was kind of my fault. I was banned from the computer at the time. **_Cal is now standing in the corner. And you know a guy like Basil? I hope it's no one you hate. _

The Flamer: _I have to compliment your greatly improved spelling and grammar skills. You sound very polished and professional. _**I spontaneously combusted when I read your review. Finally, something we can agree on! I hate Jerry Spinelli too! **_And yeah, that last chapter was the worst thing we ever wrote without purposely trying to make it bad._

RockSuperstar: _There was a reason she took it like it was no big deal… _**No, we can't tell you why. **_That would be a spoiler. _

the Flaming Reviewer: **Hi, County. (That's short for 'the flamer with an acCOUNT') **_I kind of disagree about the tie thing, but I guess everyone has different beliefs when it comes to ties. _**The seventh graders at my school started a petition to make everyone at school wear bowties. No one likes bowties. **


	25. Chapter 25

Authors' Note: _Hey, guys. Sorry for not updating; we got caught up in Christmas stuff. __**Hope you all had a nice Christmas/ Holiday. **__Don't forget to review!__**HAPPY NEW YEAR! **_**Even if you were forced into celebrating.**

Chapter 25

The day after was more interesting, as it turned out.

It started out normally, with me walking into the kitchen. Sabrina and Puck were arguing about something really random, Red was eating a bowl of cereal, and Daphne… well, it looked like she was dancing, but had blissed out of reality and spilled tea all over the floor. I coughed loudly. Daphne snapped into reality and Sabrina stopped arguing with Puck.

"Oh, hi Basil," Daphne greeted. "Are you coming with us today?"

I looked at her, a little confused. "Why wouldn't I?"

"You had a weird look on your face yesterday," Sabrina explained. "A few minutes after we walked into the house, you started blushing and started avoiding eye contact."

"It was worse than when Sabrina used to say she hated Puck," Daphne giggled. Sabrina and Puck shot each other death glares.

Meanwhile, I probably had the same expression as yesterday. Was my face really that obvious? Luckily, the phone rang from the living room, giving me an excuse to leave the room.

"Hello?" I asked, answering it.

"Basil? It's me. Is anyone else there with you?"

"Uh, yeah. Sabrina, Puck, Daphne, and Red. Why?"

"Because I found some possibilities on what was used to kill her," she told me.

"It was a knife," I said, thinking that this should have been obvious. Rose sighed into the phone to emphasize this.

"I meant how the murderer could kill her with no one noticing."

"Ah." I thought for a second. "So, remember at your party, how we kiss—"

"Basil, I wanted to kiss you. I'm pretty sure you wanted to kiss me; is there anything else we need to say?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "So, if I like you and you like me, then where do we go from there?"

"Basil, who are you talking to?" Daphne walked into the living room.

"Rose," I told her, slightly annoyed. She had really terrible timing. I handed her the phone.

"Hi Rose," Daphne greeted cheerfully. "Did you find anything?" She and Rose talked for a few minutes. I didn't quite catch most of it, but whatever they were saying, it sounded pretty serious. "Mh-hmm," said Daphne after a while. She hung up. "Well, today should be interesting."

"Interesting like something cool, or interesting like something weird's going to happen?" I asked her.

"A little of both," she winked at me, and went into the kitchen.

..~0~..

A few minutes later, Daphne, Sabrina, Puck, and I were, once again, in the car heading to Rose's house.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" I wondered. "Aren't they supposed to yell at us for barging into a murder investigation?"

"Antiquing. And Uncle Jake and Canis are trying to track down some magical objects that we've lost over the years," explained Daphne.

"Yeah, that should take a while. At least a month," said Puck. "I think we've lost, like, half the old lady's original collection."

I wonder what they did when they first got here. They seemed to have single-handedly screwed up, saved, and generally caused annoyance to the entire town.

"Oh good, we're here," I said. The place was empty after all the confusion of yesterday. Rose opened the door for us and led us up a flight of stairs. We went into a spare bedroom, where Rose pulled a book off a shelf. The shelf moved, revealing a hidden flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs was a long corridor. At the end of it, there was a painting of a castle. Rose pushed aside the painting and there was another room. Mr. and Mrs. Charming were sitting there, waiting for us.

It seemed to be a very old-fashioned sitting room. "Sit down," said Rose, gesturing to the velvety sofas.

"What's with all the secret passageways?" commented Sabrina.

"Didn't want to be overheard," explained Mrs. Charming.

"Okay, now what did you find?" asked Daphne.

"This," said Rose. She held out a small sprocket. "I found this in the corner of the room where Sophie was murdered. Look at what's on it."

"H-G-W," read Sabrina, looking at it closely. "Wait. _The_ HGW?"

"I think so," confirmed Rose.

Sabrina, Daphne, Rose, her parents, and even Puck seemed to know what this meant. "Who's HGW?" I asked.

"H.G. Wells. You know, the science fiction author?" prompted Rose.

"Oh. Wait, his books were real, too?"

"Of course, stupid boy," said Mr. Charming. For some reason, his British accent made it sound more insulting.

"Anyway," continued Rose, "I thought about it for a long time, and finally realized that the only way to kill someone that quickly… well, you'd have to mess with time, wouldn't you? So I looked into some accounts of time-traveling stories. The more recent stories are mostly made up, so I tried looking at the older ones. Well, H.G. Wells was one of the first sci-fi authors, so I looked at his books. And I found the sprocket, and well... the Time Machine just fit the description of it all." She finished and sat there, waiting for us to say something. Wow, she was smart.

"So they have a time machine now? Cool," said Puck enthusiastically. Sabrina rolled her eyes.

"Time machines are serious business, though," said Mrs. Charming, frowning slightly. "If the Scarlet Hand has one, then that gives them a huge advantage. They could change the entire timeline and create some kind of alternate universe."

Oh, damn. That's not good. But I have another question. "That's bad. But we're missing an important question: Why did they bother to do this to Sophie? From what I hear, they're not the type to just randomly kill someone for no reason and risk being caught."

"You're right, Basil, they're not," said Sabrina. She exchanged a glance with Daphne. Daphne smirked. I found this a little strange, because Daphne wasn't really the smirking type.

"You mean, we get to—"

"Yes."

"Would you please tell the rest of us what you're talking about?" Rose asked. "We're not exactly in sync with your secret code."

"Breaking and entering," said Sabrina and Daphne at exactly the same time.

..~0~..

"Okay, so here's the plan," said Sabrina. "We pick the lock, read anything personal, and then get out as soon as possible."

"Isn't this kind of… I don't know, wrong?" I asked. It was the middle of the night, and Sabrina, Puck, Daphne, and I were hiding in the bushes near Sophie's house. Yeah, this isn't weird at all.

"No," Puck replied. I wasn't too sure about this. I mean, I wanted to go, but breaking into a dead girl's house (Which had been declared a 'no-access area' by the police) and reading her personal stuff sounded a bit illegal.

But I kind of felt like I had to prove myself, because when you think about it, I hadn't actually done anything yet. Not the kind of things Grimms are supposed to do.

Puck picked the lock on the back door in approximately two seconds. "Come on," he said.

"Hey, is that a new record?" asked Sabrina. "Usually, it takes four seconds." I found this disturbing. I wondered how many houses they had broken into.

We went in, and the place was covered in yellow 'Caution' tape. Daphne pulled out a small, floating glass ball. She squeezed it, and it lit up.

"Nice, where'd you get that?" asked Sabrina.

"A yard sale, actually. One of the witches in Macbeth was selling a magic potion, and I poured it onto this ball, and now it lights up!"

"Interesting. Why don't we split up?" asked Sabrina.

"Isn't that what they do in horror movies when there's a blackout, right before a psychopath comes and brutally murders the idiots who decided to make out in the dark?" Puck pointed out.

"Well, we'll just split you and Sabrina up," answered Daphne. "I'll go with Sabrina, and you can go with Basil. We'll search upstairs, and you can look around down here, or maybe in the basement."

"Sounds good," whispered Sabrina. "And does the word 'stealthy' mean anything to you people? Haven't you ever broken into a house before?"

Daphne and Puck mumbled in agreement. I felt kind of awkward.

Sabrina and Daphne tiptoed upstairs, taking the light with them, and I was left alone with Puck. "Okay, we'll check the kitchen. Oh, and try to be quiet."

I followed him into the kitchen. "What are we looking for?"

"Anything, really. Hopefully some cookies."

"Why do we need cookies?"

"We can't look for clues on an empty stomach." He opened one of the white cabinets and poked around. I didn't know how he could see anything, since it was so dark, but he somehow managed to find a package of Oreos. "Jackpot!" he whispered.

"I thought you were a dentist. Shouldn't you be discouraging this?" I wondered.

"If not for these, kid, I wouldn't have any business. Want one?"

I took the cookie. "Should we look for actual clues now?"

"Yeah, sure."

I ignored him and left the kitchen. I wandered around blindly in the dark, looking for something that could help. Something… anything... then I tripped. I landed near a sofa. Not on it, next to it. This turns out to be a good thing, because I noticed something underneath the sofa. I pulled it out, and found a laptop.

"Hey, I think I found something!" I said to an empty room. "Hello? Puck?"

"What?" he replied, coming into the room. He must have had good night vision, because _he_ didn't fall and land on his face.

"I found a laptop!"

"That's nice. We'll show it to—"

The rest of his sentence was cut off by either Sabrina or Daphne screaming.

End of Chapter

**Sorry for not updating, we've been busy. **_And don't worry, we're not going on an eternal hiatus again. The next chapter should be up in less than a week. _

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

NoraeKaye: _Basil and Rose aren't really going to be like Puckabrina. _**There's a lot less denial. **_It's just not in either of them to be mysterious about what they think. _**Basil's calm, Rose is outgoing and bubbly. **_And you're writing a book? Cool. Hope it turns out well. Thanks for the compliments. _

RockSuperstar: **Your theory about Rose fascinates me. Excuse me as I stroke my fake beard in interest. **_And Snow White and Charming are perfect for each other. We're just trying to look at it from Basil's POV, because he wasn't there through most of the books. So he would probably see it differently. __**That's also why we have Puck and Sabrina's relationship so… casual. See, he's not really around when they're romantic, so he doesn't get that part of their relationship. We know it's not much of an excuse, but still. It won't be that way forever, though.**_

ANannyMouse: _Yeah, we really had to get the plot rolling. _**And we're so glad you appreciated it, we've been trying for so long. **

The Flamer: **What do you mean, we have nothing in common? Isn't a hate for Jerry Spinelli enough? **_You are very creative with your insults, I have to say. But if our writing really makes you want to gouge your eyes out, please don't read it. As much as we enjoy irritating you, we really don't want you dead._

GreekHuntress: **I have a friend who read Maniac Magee and hated it. **_I loved Stargirl, I wanted to cry at the end. Oh, and good guess with the time-traveling thing. _


	26. Chapter 26

Authors' Note: _Hey guys, here's chapter 26. _**I can't think of anything else to say except that I can't feel my hands. Oh, except that we're both sorry for the delay. **Disclaimer: We do not own the Sisters Grimm.

Chapter 26

"What happened?" I called. Puck and I ran up the stairs. We opened one of the doors and ran into a room. Sabrina and Daphne were standing in front of the closet.

"What happened?" I repeated. They both seemed perfectly fine, but they had expressions of pure terror on their faces.

"Look," whispered Sabrina, pointing toward the closet. I followed her gaze, and nearly jumped out of my skin. The closet was a shrine to taxidermy. Dead stuffed animals were everywhere. There were possums, bears, even a deer's head, and two crows. The crows were in the middle of the closet. Usually, I don't find this sort of thing frightening. Most people probably wouldn't either, but that's just because they haven't seen it. I don't know why, but their eyes seemed to follow me.

Puck laughed and picked up a crow. "This is what you were scared of? A stuffed crow?"

"Look at it! Doesn't it look exactly like the one from that old movie The Birds?" asked Daphne, who still looked scared.

"No, not really—" He looked at it again, then yelped and threw it across the room. "Okay, that's creepy." It fell on the floor, and its head rolled off.

"Now look what you did! Go put it back!" ordered Sabrina.

"Fine, fine. Let's get out of here, anyway. We already found her laptop."

"Good, I don't like this place," Daphne said. "What kind of person keeps taxidermy in their closet, anyway?"

Sabrina frowned. "I think you might be onto something, Daphne. Why does she have a bunch of dead animals in the closet? She wasn't really the type to do this kind of thing. I mean, compare it to the rest of the room. Look, it's pretty normal." I looked around. She was right; it looked average. White carpet, pink walls, and purple bedding; I think any girl could have lived in this room.

"Maybe it was her closet obsession," suggested Daphne lightheartedly.

"Stop joking, Daphne. We're dealing with a murder victim here. Anything could be a clue."

"I know, but not everything is a clue. And we don't have to be all moopy about it."

Sabrina looked exasperated. "Daphne, you're twenty-two. 'Moopy' is not a word. Would you grow up?"

"Okay, relax. You can kill each other later," said Puck. "Can we go now? You're probably waking up the entire town."

Sabrina still looked annoyed, but she kept her mouth shut.

..~0~..

I came downstairs the next morning and found Sabrina and Daphne asleep on the kitchen table with the laptop still open. Apparently, they'd sat up for most of the night trying to hack into it. When we got home last night, we had turned the computer on, hoping to find something, but most of the files were locked. I'd gotten bored and gone to bed. They'd stayed up, trying to break in.

"You kids find anything interesting last night?" asked Uncle Jake, who had just walked in.

"Just the computer, but we can't unlock any of the files," I explained.

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem; I've come across a few computer hackers in my travels." He sat down at the table and turned the laptop on. "Let's see…," he said thoughtfully. "Yeah, I know a guy that could definitely hack this."

"So, what exactly were you doing the last few days?" I asked. I'd been wondering about this.

" 'Antiquing' with your parents," he responded. "Hank didn't want to do anything magic-related, so he and your mom went shopping. I went along, and look what I found!" He walked over to the kitchen cabinet and pulled out one of those plastic drinking hats with the two cans of soda attached to the side. It was painting bright gold.

"You found a soda hat?" I asked. It didn't seem like that big a find. He grinned and shook his head.

"This, Basil, is the Golden Cap."

"The what?"

"Haven't you ever read the Wizard of Oz?" he sighed exasperatedly.

"I saw the movie," I offered.

"Well, in the book, the flying monkeys were summoned by using this hat. It would work three times for one person. Supposedly, the monkeys would grant any wish."

The pathetic-looking hat suddenly took on a new significance. "Cool. So we can just summon these monkeys and they'll hack the computer?"

"Basil, you have to think bigger. We can't use this for hacking a computer. Really, imagine the possibilities!"

Uncle Jake was probably every kid's dream crazy relative. I smiled, and was about to make a suggestion, but then my dad walked in and frowned. "Jake, is that what I think it is?"

I was expecting him to come in and start lecturing me on all the things that could go wrong when magic was involved, but he wasn't. In fact, he looked pretty interested. "The Golden Cap? It's too bad I used up all my wishes; that could have come in handy."

"What did you wish for?" I asked.

Uncle Jake and Dad exchanged glances, and then started laughing. "Sorry, Basil—" apologized my dad, still laughing, "It's just a really long story."

"What is?" questioned Sabrina, who had woken up. She elbowed Daphne. "Daphne, wake up."

"No, I want _blue_ noodles for Halloween… No, Groundhog Day… Wait, what?" mumbled Daphne. Then she jerked awake. "What time is it?"

"Ten to eight," I replied, checking the clock.

Mom walked in, looking confused. "Were you two down here all night?" she asked.

"Yes. We were trying to access some of the files on the computer, but they're locked," explained Sabrina.

"So, you're in the middle of another mystery?" asked Mom.

"Murder case, actually," corrected Daphne. "But yes, that's the general term. So, are you going to help?"

Mom sighed. "I'd love to, but do you realize how late in the year it is already? It's the second week of August. We have to go back to the city."

"Mom, really? Now?" I complained. I couldn't believe this. I knew we couldn't stay much longer, but we were in the middle of a murder case! I was not going to leave just to go back to school.

"Basil, we have to be realistic here. We can't spend all our time here. Our lives are in the city, not here," insisted my father.

"Well, I know that, but school doesn't even start yet! It's still August!"

"You have sophomore orientation!" exclaimed my mom.

"But it's optional! Besides, I'm going to be a sophomore; no one really needs orientation for sophomore year!"

"School's important, Basil. If you want to be able to help with the murder cases, you should at least be able to handle high school," argued my father.

"Someone, tell Dad how stupid he sounds," I said. No one answered.

"You're father's right, Basil. Education can only help when it comes to this stuff," replied my mom firmly. "I mean, even when we were gone, Sabrina and Daphne went to school every day without complaining. Right?" she asked, turning to look at them.

They exchanged unsure glances. "Uh, sure we did, Mom!" said Daphne, a little too optimistically.

"Yeah, they didn't even fake illnesses," said Puck, coming downstairs. "Or end up having to get dragged in. And they definitely didn't stay up all night doing stakeouts."

Thankfully, Mom and Dad ignored their moronic son-in-law. But they still looked pretty firm about it.

"All, right, I'll get ready," I groaned. Life sucks sometimes. I trudged up to my room, feeling annoyed. But I got out my bag and began to pack. To top off this incredibly crappy morning, Mr. Wooglestein the creepy teddy bear that I had left here around Christmas, was lying on my pillow. I opened the window without hesitation and tossed him out. I'd had enough creepy stuffed animals for a week.

..~0~..

Authors' Note: _I know we were supposed to post this, earlier, but we've been busy: _**volleyball,**_ this play thing that I have to do for school (In which I play a hillbilly named Daisy) etc. _We'd appreciate a review. **Mr. Wooglestein actually does have some significance; besides the fact that he has a really stupid name. **_No, he's not going to come alive and try to eat them. He appeared in chapter 6._

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

ANannyMouse: _It's not going to get that confusing. I mean, Back to the future confused me sooo much. I feel like time travel stories are the type of thing that you need to read/see every little detail to understand. _**Time travel is easy to understand for me. And Basil won't screw everything up with Rose. **

RockSuperstar: **You have to remember that even the police have to do illegal-ish things once in a while. And the Grimms are like the cops in Ferryport Landing. **_Anyway, hope you like this chapter._

Curlscat: _Thanks for the six reviews. And your job allows you to sit there eating candy? Cool. _**And you said 'Yay lefties'. Are you a lefty? We're both lefties. As well as our younger sister. And our mom. And our uncle. Rose isn't ticked at him… and originally, we were going to combine 22 and 23, but it was way too much. **_Basil was a bit of a manwhore in that chapter. I think we have to redo that, it wasn't our best work, even though it was supposed to be important. _**No, the zebra-pants guy had nothing to do with anything, he was just a weird guy at a party. **_The Grimm Guide and the Grimm Legacy: two books we need to find. We've never read either. _**Thanks again for the reviews. **

PUCKABRINA: _Does that mean that the last chapter was awesome, or are you requesting a higher degree of awesome-osity in our next few chapters? If so, we're happy to oblige your request._

_**AND FINALLY… THANKS TO THOSE WHO VOTED FOR US IN ELLIGOAT'S COMPETITION! JUST BEING NOMINATED MEANS SO MUCH TO US! THANK YOU ALL.**_


	27. Important AN!

**Yes, we are leaving one of those annoying Chapter Authors' Notes. Sorry, but it's important! **

**Our computer crashed, all of our programming got deleted and now Cerulean and I can't write a new chapter! I know, it sucks. But as soon as we get our computer fixed, we will write a new chapter.**

**We were working on an accompanying oneshot before our computer crashed; it was called What NOT to do with the Golden Cap. It was about Henry and Jake as teenagers and getting hold of the golden cap and drastically doing stupid things(see last chapter for their current look at that situation.**

**But we'll post a new chapter ASAP. We'll try.**

**~Apocalypse=)**


	28. Chapter 27

AN: _Sorry for not updating. As you know, our computer crashed, etc, and we had to be careful about using it. _**Also, we went on mid-winter vacation last week. Hey, does anyone remember when we used to update every other day? **_Good times. Anyway, here's the chapter._

Chapter 27

I forced my suitcase closed and dragged it downstairs. I still couldn't believe I was being forced to go back to the city. You'd think my parents would get bored of this after a while, but no.

"Come on, Basil. The car's waiting," said Dad. I sighed and headed out the door.

"Bye, Basil," said Daphne. She embraced me tightly, like she always did. Sabrina hugged me too.

"Hank, you don't have to drag people back to the city every time something doesn't go well here," Uncle Jake protested. Dad ignored him.

"We're going, and that's final," he insisted.

"Bye, Basil," said Red shyly.

"We'll see you at Thanksgiving," said Mr. Canis.

"If we live that long," added Puck cheerfully. Everyone looked at him. "What? I'm just trying to be realistic."

And that was the last I saw of Ferryport Landing for a while.

..~0~..

The car trip was three long, awkward hours. Car trips are never much fun in my family to begin with, and this was even worse.

"So should we take the Thruway or the Taconic?" asked Mom, trying to break the silence.

"We could just turn around," I suggested.

"Thruway, then," she decided, as if I hadn't said anything.

"There's probably a ton of traffic," I reminded them.

"I like the Taconic," said Dad.

"The silent treatment? What are you, six?" I asked. They should have known that the silent treatment only served to annoy me. Fine. If they wanted to play that game, I would, too.

I unlocked the car door and opened it. The air whistled past me loudly. "Fine, then. I'll just jump out of the car." Neither of them did anything.

Suddenly, Dad shouted, "That's ridiculous!" and slammed on the brakes. I smirked, thinking that I had won. But he wasn't looking at me. "Four ninety- three per gallon? In New Jersey?" Then he began ranting about the oil tycoons in the Middle East.

I sighed. For the rest of the ride, my parents ignored me. I kept trying to get them to stop. I tried threatening to hitchhike back, reminding them that they left Sabrina and Daphne in Ferryport Landing when they were both younger than me, and I even considered telling them that Sabrina, Daphne, and Puck threw a house party when they were away. Then again, if I told them that, they would never let me go back alone.

..~0~..

I spent about three days back in the city. It actually wasn't that bad being back. I'd actually missed it: the skyline, Central Park, laughing at the way tourists walked around confused and took pictures of everything, and especially the energy.

It was good to see my friends, too—except Jill, who I tried to miss, but I just couldn't. She's always mad at me, and I'm never sure why. Trixie once suggested halfheartedly that it was because she liked me, but I just don't think she does. Once she punched me after Music Appreciation, and I was like, WTF?

Anyway, on my third day back, my mom took pity on me. I guess she understood the desire to take up the family business. Plus, obedience just isn't her thing. She ended up taking me to the Golden Egg when my dad wasn't around. As we entered through the Hans Christian Andersen statue, I got the feeling that we were being followed.

Normally, I walk at least fifteen feet away from my mother when in public. I know, I know: it's rude. But it actually came in handy this time, because I noticed the stalker before she did. It was that creepy homeless girl who I'd seen near the Alice in Wonderland statue. What was it that she called herself? I couldn't quite remember, but I knew she was bad news.

I touched the statue and entered the Golden Egg. It was fairly crowded, since it was the weekend. I scanned the crowd and quickly spotted my mother with a woman with dark brown hair.

"Mom?" I said, approaching them. "Did you by any chance notice a creepy-looking homeless girl following us?"

The other woman turned and looked at me with electric blue eyes, which made me feel like I was being X-rayed. Something about her seemed slightly familiar.

"Of course I noticed. You didn't think I was blind, did you?" Mom asked. She didn't seem too concerned about it.

"No, I've seen her before. Once when I was in the park—"

"Really?" my mother frowned. "Basil, I thought you knew better than to talk to mentally unstable people."

"I didn't know she was. She just shoved me against a tree and threatened me!"

My mom looked as if she was about to say something else; but she didn't, because before she could open her mouth the door to the Golden Egg was smashed down. And guess who stormed inside.

A huge mob, armed with every weapon possible, smashed their way in. There were goblins, trolls, witches, and a whole horde of other monsters—so many, and so weird looking that I didn't know what to call them. They had fangs, fur, claws, and some wickedly sharp blades. At the head was the creepy street girl I'd seen before.

"Moth!" yelled the woman.

Moth looked at her and sneered. "Surprised? You shouldn't be. I was tossed in prison by thy guards and treated as if I were no better than a peasant! When I finally got released from prison, you turned me out on the _street_. Royalty should never be treated like that. I was supposed to be a queen."

"Please. You never would have become queen anyway. You may have royal blood, but you're not noble," Mustardseed said. I hadn't noticed him before, but there he was, standing on top of the bar, holding a crossbow. "Leave now, or you'll regret this."

Moth didn't hesitate. She turned to an ugly troll. "You know what you're looking for. Go!" The mob roared and all hell broke loose.

They charged through the bar, breaking glass and splintering wood, and slashing with their razor-sharp swords. In the midst of it all, Mustardseed and the woman seemed to have disappeared. But a bunch of fairies who looked a lot like him started leaping onto table, firing their crossbows at the invaders.

The crowd started pushing and shoving, trying desperately to get to the door. I pushed past them, trying to get to the mob.

"Go!" shouted one of the fairies. "It's too dangerous for civilians!"

"I'm not a civilian, I'm a Grimm!" I yelled. I started to run forward, but then someone grabbed me, blindfolded me, and dragged me away. I tried to twist away, but whoever was dragging me had hands like iron. I couldn't see whoever it was, so I elbowed them as hard as I could in their general direction.

"Ow!" said a familiar voice.

"Mustardseed? Is that you?" I asked. He pulled off my blindfold.

"Sorry about that, Basil, but I couldn't let you see where we're going," he replied.

"What's so special about here?" I asked. We were standing in small room with a few dusty looking crates. I could still hear the mob breaking something somewhere above us.

"We can't be overheard," said the woman that my mother was talking to before, who was sitting on one of the crates. My mom was there too.

"I think you already know my mother," Mustardseed added. I hadn't actually met her before, but I remembered her from the story.

"Titania, right?" I asked her.

"That would be correct. We don't have much time, so you must listen to me," Titania commanded. Huh; so this is Sabrina's mother-in-law. She continued, "Do you know why this group has invaded the Faerie?" She didn't give me a chance to answer. "They are looking for something; something that could let them out of Ferryport Landing. We keep this item under lock and key, but it's only a matter of time before they find it."

"What, exactly?" asked my mother.

"The Crystal Coffin," said Titania. She must have noticed my expression, because she added, "Of course, you probably wouldn't know what that is. I'll explain. It's part of a story in the Green Fairy Book. There's no time to explain it now, but the main thing is that there's a glass coffin. Which can be used as a portal. And from that, I think you can guess why the Scarlet Hand wants it and is currently in the process of ransacking the bar in order to find it."

"Shouldn't you be trying to hide it?" I questioned.

She rolled her eyes. "There's no need for that. It's in one of the hidden rooms, but they can't get in. It's locked with a powerful enchantment that only a special key can open. But the Scarlet Hand didn't know that. I think they're relying on Moth to figure it out for them."

"And Moth doesn't know it's an enchanted key," added Mustardseed. "Besides the four of us and Puck, no one does. Actually, Puck has the key with him in Ferryport Landing."

"So why are you telling this to us?" I wondered out loud. If there's anything I've learned from mystery movies, it's that no one lets you in on a secret without ulterior motives.

"We need you to destroy it. Besides, you're Grimms. It's your unofficial, time-consuming, stress-inducing, non-paying, pain-in-the-ass job to do this kind of thing. Now, stop asking questions. We have to get the Scarlet Hand out of here. You should leave quickly, before I burst into flames," ordered Titania briskly.

"You should go," warned Mustardseed. "Before things get worse."

I didn't get it. Why did everyone always want to run away when things were just getting exciting? But my mom grabbed my arm and dragged me to the door, which opened to reveal a tiny, dark corridor. I could still hear the sounds of fighting somewhere above us as we went down it. We turned several corners, each leading into dark rooms full of crates, closets, old furniture and some other things that I could barely see because it was so dark. How large was this place?

Suddenly, I heard a noise to our left and was instantly alert.

"You'd better have given us the right directions, princess," growled a low voice that didn't sound quite human. More like a wolf's would.

"In here!" whispered my mom. I turned and saw her vanish into a large wardrobe in the corner. I climbed in after her and closed the door.

"I have," said a girl—probably Moth—in a snippy voice. "It should be in just a few turns to the left, and one to the right."

"You're lying," whispered a raspy voice. It had an odd, disembodied quality to it.

"I'm not!" protested Moth.

"If you aren't lying, then why haven't we gotten there yet?" hissed the voice. Something about it reminded me of just about every ghost movie I'd ever seen—a haunting, threatening, echoing thing that seemed to bring to mind deep, dark fears.

"We just haven't, okay?" she snapped, trying to sound confident, but I heard her voice waver.

"If you can't help us, then you know what's coming," the voice said in an almost singsong way. "You know what she will do to you…"

The footsteps faded until I could no longer hear them. Cautiously, I stepped out of the closet.

"Be very quiet," my mother whispered. She took my arm again and led me past several more rooms. Finally, we came to a door and listened for more Hand members, but all seemed quiet. My mom pushed the door open, and bright sunlight flooded in, practically blinding me after spending so long in the dark.

We stepped out and found ourselves near the statue of William Shakespeare in the park. It felt almost surreal after hiding in a wardrobe, listening to a ghost.

"Well, that was interesting," I remarked.

My mother sighed. "I'll meet you in the apartment for dinner. We'll have to talk about what happened today. And we need to get a copy of your school transcript."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because if you're going to go to Ferryport Landing and destroy the key, it means you'll end up staying there for a while. And I don't care what your excuse is, you are not going to go there without attending school. You'll have to transfer to Ferryport Landing High School."

I stared. "Wait. Really?"

She shrugged. "I can't keep you here forever, Basil. This kind of thing is in your blood."

..~0~..

Authors' Note: _I'd forgotten how fun this was. Again, extremely sorry for the lack of updating. But we told you, we're not giving up on this story, no matter how long it takes._

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

Curlscat: _Thanks for congratulating us. And we'd like to apologize for the lack of updating. Oh, and sophomores don't actually have orientation. That was just his parents trying to create an excuse. And we had no idea that you could write on the site. We couldn't figure out how it works. _

ANannyMouse: _I never understood the point of taxidermy. It doesn't look good at all to have a dead deer in your bedroom. Then again, maybe it's a conversation piece?_

_We're sorry for not updating._

RockSuperstar: _We actually did make a oneshot about Henry and the hat: What Not to Do With the Golden Cap. And sorry for not updating. _

ImANargleHunter: _I love you penname! It reminds me of Luna Lovegood. And it doesn't bother us if people criticize our characterization, but thank you for being so kind about it. And we're sorry for not updating. _

GreekHuntress: _Actually, I heard the word 'Moopy' on a cartoon called Kim Possible when I was younger. And taxidermy never fails to creep people out._

EvilScrapbooker: _After not updating for two months, we can't get mad at you for not reviewing. I hate it when schools are like that. They seem to assume that getting into college is the whole point of life. And about our randomness: we find that when we work together, it's hard not to be random. We have to add a little of it in somewhere, because a lot of people don't realize that real life is random, so it's okay to be random once in a while when you're writing a story. Just once in a while, though. And yes, after Book 5, things started to get pretty dark. I guess it was necessary, but I still miss the fun. We're glad you liked the sentimental scene. It was a change from our regular writing, but it was interesting to write. I also have a hard time picturing Sabrina, Daphne, and Puck as adults. Even in Book 5, it was strange. And by the way, only a few of Cinderella's animal friends are in the taxidermy closet. _

HollyRose: _I don't like mushy Puck. It seems so weird, especially when I read the books and see their actual conversations. We're glad you enjoyed the proposal. And we're so sorry for not updating. _


	29. Chapter 29

AN: _We're going to try and update more frequently, now that our computer's working properly again. _**We're going to try and update on Sunday nights, so now you know when to look for our stuff**_**. Also, we would like to apologize for our obnoxious lack of updating.**__We feel like hypocritical bitches, which one could argue that we are. __**As you may know, we were not really fans of the Book 9 ending. **_**Actually, I kind of hated it. **_I just didn't like the first part of the epilogue. __**And to us, the second part was okay, but it left something to be desired. We're going to try and incorporate a few elements of Book 9 into this. **_

Chapter 28

I watched from the train window as trees and hills rolled by. It was going pretty fast, and would probably arrive in Ferryport Landing in an hour. But I was just trying to enjoy the ride. That's the nice thing about trains: you don't have to worry about directions, or getting lost. All you have to do is get off at the right stop.

There weren't a lot of people on the train, so I was free to sit wherever I wanted. As the train rolled to a stop by some town called Cerocalypse, two girls got on. Without hesitating, they each walked over and sat on either side of me.

"Tic Tac?" offered one of the girls. She had streaks of pink in her hair.

"No thanks," I said.

"See! I told you he wouldn't take candy from a stranger!" said the other girl. She had blue streaks in her hair.

"What?" I asked. These girls were starting to seem pretty familiar. Maybe they were stalkers. I thought about getting off the train at the next stop, but then I'd have to wait for a really long time. Besides, they were weird, but seemed harmless.

They stared at me for a while, until I finally said, "Hey… aren't you guys from that store in Ferryport Landing?"

Pink Streaks shrugged. "More or less."

"I'm surprised you recognized us, Basil," commented Blue Streaks. "I wasn't under the impression that you were paying any attention."

"You're kind of hard to ignore."

"Aw, you're so sweet!" gushed Blue.

"Can I pinch your cheeks?" simpered Pink.

"Actually, I kind of meant that you really stand out."

"Yeah… What else would you mean?" asked Pink. She pulled out a book and started to read. I looked at the cover. It was A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.

"See, it's kind of our job to stand out," explained Blue. "Don't you like your life to be exciting, rather than just being a background character in the story of life?"

She was right. But before I could say anything else, they vanished, leaving only a birthday card that said, 'Happy First Birthday! Love, Lea and Cal xoxoxoxo '

..~0~..

When I got off the train, Sabrina was there to pick me up. "Hi, Sabrina," I said.

"Hey, Basil," she said, hugging me. "Got your stuff?"

"Yeah. Listen, about the key—"

She looked serious for a minute. "Not here. Too many people. Wait till we get to the house."

"Okay," I agreed, following her to the car. "So… I'm not going to come back to a wild party this time, am I?"

"Please. That's only once a year. But I should warn you about something before you get to the house."

"Warn me about what?"

"We told you the real story of Little Red Riding Hood, right? With the magic kazoo, and Mr. Canis accidentally turning into the Wolf, and the lumberjack's story being a load of BS?"

"Yes. And the real Wolf is still trapped in a jar, right?"

"That's the problem."

I felt a little uneasy at this. "What happened?"

"It's in Red."

"_What?_"

"During the war, Red took the spirit of the Wolf upon herself, and she's been containing it for years."

"And I never realized this?"

"Mr. Canis taught her ways to hold it back. Acting the way she does—all quiet and timid, helped her to do that. But a few days ago, she came home, different. She wasn't acting like herself. And then, when we asked her what was going on, she literally tried to bite me head off."

"Seriously?" I asked, shocked. I couldn't even picture that happening. It was too unnatural.

"Unfortunately, yeah. She ran off into the woods after that, but she came back yesterday. Since then, she's been meditating, trying to get it back under control. But I don't know if she can."

I hoped that last sentence was just Sabrina's pessimism, but I had a sinking feeling that it was true. "Is there anything I should do?" I asked.

"Just make sure you give her some space. Don't make any loud noises, or ask anything too inquisitive. Just try and walk on eggshells when you're around her."

"Okay," I agreed. Under different circumstances, I would have been mad at her for not telling me this, but I think this is too serious to whine about.

..~0~..

I arrived at the house and went up to my room. I unpacked my things and stared out the window. So much had changed since my last visit, even though it was less than two weeks ago.

Someone knocked at my door, interrupting my thoughts. It was Daphne. "Meet us in the mirror, okay?"

"Okay, I said, following her out the door. I went to Harry's closet and stepped through the magic mirror.

Sabrina, Puck, Daphne, and Mr. Canis were standing by the fireplace in the Chalet of Wonders, talking quietly.

"Guten tag, Basil!" said Harry cheerfully, apparently oblivious to whatever was going on. "Would you like a chocolate pillow mint?"

"Oh, thanks." I accepted the mint, wondering why Harry would be so cheerful when there was clearly something wrong. It was probably just a force of habit.

I walked over to the fireplace to meet the others. "So, can we talk about you-know-what here?" I asked cautiously.

"It might be the only safe place to talk about it," muttered Sabrina.

"Okay… so where is the key?"

"Right here," said Puck, picking up a stuffed animal. I recognized it as Kraven the Deceiver. "In the belly of the beast."

"Wait, so _that's _why you keep it?" giggled Daphne.

"Well, duh! Why else would a grown man keep a stuffed unicorn? It's not like I actually like it."

"So that's the reason you kept bringing it back into the house whenever I threw it out? You knew?" Sabrina asked Daphne.

Daphne looked annoyed. "No! Why would I know?"

"So you basically just did it to annoy me, then."

"Yes! It was funny, okay? Can't you take a joke?"

Sabrina looked ready to explode. "I can take a joke. But you just always go behind my back, don't you?"

Now Daphne looked mad. "Like you've never done it to me! I can name at least ten different times when you've sneaked around and done stuff without telling me! And guess what? SOMETIMES YOU TOTALLY SCREW THINGS UP! You screwed up again, and guess what? I PROBABLY SAVED ALL OUR ASSES BY FISHING THAT PIECE OF SHIT OUT OF THE TRASHCAN!"

"Would both of you just CALM DOWN!" Mr. Canis ordered. Everyone jumped a little and turned towards him. He cleared his throat a little. "Sorry. But it was necessary."

I'd never heard Mr. Canis yell before, so I was a little surprised, to say the least. I was even more surprised that Sabrina and Daphne were fighting over something so stupid. What had happened in the few days I'd been away?

"Now that you've both shut up," said Puck, "can we start talking about how to get rid of the key?" While Sabrina and Daphne had been arguing, he'd pulled open one of the seams on Kraven's back and fished out a skeleton key. It looked like it was made out of clear crystal, and had some greenish fluid inside.

"Cool," I said. "What's that green stuff inside it?"

"That's a potion to keep the key from shattering," explained Daphne, who was attempting to look calm. "See, the coffin is probably so fragile that the maker couldn't just use regular material for the lock, so whoever made the lock must have made the key out of the same material. But now the key is so fragile that it could break with only one use. So I guess they must have used that stuff to prevent it from breaking."

"So how do we destroy it, then?" I asked.

"Like this," said Puck. He picked up the key and hurled it across the room, where it crashed into the wall. But it didn't break. He tried throwing it into the fireplace, where we all circled around to look at it. It made a strange hissing noise, and extinguished all the flames.

Harry scurried over the fireplace. "No! Do you people have any idea how much wood it takes to rekindle the flame? Be more careful when you play with your magical doodads!"

We apologized, and he went to go find more wood. "So what do we do now?" I asked. "Is there some kind of other potion that would undo the green one?"

Everyone turned to Daphne, who seemed to be the expert on these things. "Well, there _is _a Destruction Draught, but it's very difficult to make. And it requires all kinds of strange things."

"Has that ever stopped you from making a potion before?" asked Sabrina dryly.

"Not yet, Sis," replied Daphne sharply.

..~0~..

End Of Chapter

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

**First, I would like to ultra-mega-super-apologize for our lack of updates. **_I second that. _

RockSuperstar:_Yeah, Basil's definitely proved that he's impulsive enough to jump out of a car. _**He's Basil like that.**

puckabrina-FAXfan: **Updates have arrived, and we promise that we'll try to do it more frequently now that our computer is fixed.**

Curlscat: **Yes, that's what happens when Cerulean writes alone. **_Yeah… I wasn't really thinking. It was a pretty stupid mistake on my part. _

HollyRose: **He's going to be in Ferryport Landing for a while now. **_But we really like putting him in the city, mostly because we're more familiar with NYC than any other big city. _

PenguinLoverGirl: _I feel like deep under her pixie-like exterior, Moth is an ugly troll. _**Yes. Yes she is. **_Sophie is a brunette and Mustardseed didn't go on his date yet. He's still trying to avoid her. We may put that in a later chapter, but no guarantees. _**It's more of a funny detail than an actual plotline.**

GreekHuntress: **Flamey probably is gone, as it's been several months. **_We don't want to jinx it and have him return unexpectedly, but it's probably true. _

SweetShireen: **That's a pretty penname. **_Actually, we're the only people who have written about Basil so far. _**It's kind of sad. And now, on with answering your reviews: Chapter 1: that's one of the main reasons we wrote about him; he's an important character, but is largely ignored. **_Chapter 2: Puck's proposal just seemed to really fit his personality. _**Chapter 3: Rose is really who she says she is. As for Harry Potter's birthday…it's not that late*blushes shamefully for not updating*.**_ Chapter 4:Granny didn't die in the book, and, if the first Sisters Grimm book was published in 2005, and the series took place over the course of a year or so, then it actually could have been her that day._** Chapter 5: Well, he was going to find out sooner or later. Otherwise, I think this would have been a pretty boring story. **_Chapter 6: Thank you! We try to make everyone as in character as possible. Yes, we are sisters, but not twins. You're not slow, trust me. Not many accounts are shared, and fewer are shared by siblings, I think. _**Chapter 7: Yes, they're fun to write. Also, the accent was fun to read; no need to apologize . **_Chapter 8: Yes, Harry from the series is dead. This is a different Harry; and your reviews don't suck._** Chapter 9: Sorry if we offended you with our anti-Twilight comments. Think of it this way, though; Basil is a guy, and most guys (that I know, anyway) aren't Twilight fans. As for your bi-polar feelings, it's understandable. I mean, I don't like Twilight, but I know the feeling. **_Chapter 10: Yeah, that line just throws you back into the world of classic Ferryport Landing, where you can get away with serving food like that. _**Chapter 11:** **It would be fun to do something like that on Easter; too bad it only exists in our heads. And yeah, last August was a crazy month… and your reviews aren't horrible! Horrible reviews are the ones that insult you in mindless ways and have bad punctuation *coughFLAMEYcough*. You don't have to review all at once; we'll still answer all your reviews, no matter how long it takes.**

_**By the way, Cerulean just went to her volleyball match, so I'm stuck finishing this. **_

**Chapter 12: Yeah, you've got to love Cilantro the Jabberwocky. As for Flamey, I'm pretty sure he's gone, as it's been months. Yeah, we're girls; and I'm glad you enjoy our banter. Banter is fun if you're having fun. Chapter 13: Yeah, I liked that snippet too; it's about as close as we could get to fluff at that moment. (if you have't figured it out, I'm using smiley faces to separate the chapter responses) Chapter 4: You never know, maybe Basil will get to know the insane psychopath who tried to murder his sister. **

oah ehm ghee:** We're both so glad that you like it. **

DayNight:** First, thank you for reviewing!**

**Chapter 3: Yeah, they're not there yet; not even close. Chapter 4: Basil just needs some time. I mean, how would you feel if you found out your entire family had been hiding a secret from you for the first two years of your life? I know that I would be pretty mad. Yeah, Peter seems crazy for a pretty unusual reason. Also, it was me (Apocalypse) who saw Granny at the bank. Chapter 9: Yes, Basil is shamed. Chapter 10: What's that a quote from? Chapter 16: The Book of Kells is written in Latin, actually. Hey, we're Irish too, but '**"**Póg mo thóin' ****is the only Gaelic we know, so don't feel bad. Chapter 23: As we have stated to other reviewers, we are fairly certain that Flamey is gone.**

**_End note: _****Well! It's hard to be witty when your writing accomplice leaves to play volleyball and you have to finish responding by yourself; this is what Cerulean did in the last chapter. If you hadn't noticed, there was no bold type (my type) in the end A/N.**

**Anywho, in terms of one-woman-banter, I hope I didn't fail; and for this chapter, I speak for both Cerulean and I when we say we hope you enjoyed it. Please review?**


	30. Chapter 30

Authors' Note: _Well, here's chapter 30. Let's see if we can try and come up with a witty disclaimer. _**Wait, is this because I failed at writing a witty 'Lea and Cal Read Reviews?' **_No. Actually, it's because I see all the other authors with witty disclaimers and it makes me jealous. Let's use our combined brainpower to make an attempt at one. _***Cal gets a constipated look* Thinking… thinking… thinking… okay, I can't do this. **_Well, after spending several hours racking our brains desperately to find a cooler way of expressing this, and coming to the revelation that disclaimers actually hold very little legal weight, we can end this little attempt by concluding that we do not, in fact, own the Sisters Grimm. _**Not having a witty**__**disclaimer about it just makes it even sadder. **_However, if we did own it… well, we think most of you have been reading our stuff long enough to know how that would go. _**On with the story!**

Chapter 30

When I woke up a few days later, there was an unexplainable feeling of gloom in the air. I went downstairs, trying to think what could be causing it. Maybe Sabrina and Daphne's fights had finally escalated into something more serious. Maybe Red had lost control.

"Mr. Canis," I said, "Did something happen?"

He stopped pouring his tea and looked at me curiously. "No. Why?"

"I just have this feeling that something… bad happened, or is going to happen."

He went back to pouring his tea. Oddly, he looked like he was trying to suppress a smirk. Very unusual for Mr. Canis. "Don't most teenagers feel that way about the first day of school?"

Oh, crap. I should've known this was coming. I'd bought school supplies a few days ago, and sent my transcripts over to Ferryport Landing High School. The date was marked off in huge letters on the calendar. But still. School. In the middle of what could escalate to another war. I sighed. It was my parents' main requirement for going to live in Ferryport Landing, so I guessed that it was go to school or go home. I ate my breakfast and got dressed.

..~0~..

I wasn't sure what to expect of my first day. I knew that most rural schools would be a lot more conservative than city schools, but then again, this was Ferryport Landing.

So it was a pretty big surprise when everyone came in looking completely normal. In my old school, people were much wilder when it came to clothes, wearing mixed styles, facial piercings and tattoos, and the kind of accessories that you could only get in New York City. Here, most people just wore jeans and T-shirts. It wasn't a bad change of scenery.

I met my homeroom teacher, Mrs. Jenkins. She was in her mid-forties, and was obsessed with Bruce Springsteen. Marvin and Robert were in the class, too, so I knew someone. Everyone kept staring at me, like my hair had turned purple or something. Remembering that I now lived in the same house as Puck, I tried checking it, but it wasn't really long enough to see. So I decided to break the ice by asking the class.

"My hair isn't purple, is it? Because my brother-in-law thinks it's funny to dye people's hair in their sleep."

They all stared for a second, like _wait what? The new guy has a personality?_ Then, to my relief, most of them laughed.

The tall, dark-haired girl sitting behind me asked, "Your brother-in-law wouldn't by any chance be the dentist, would he?"

"No, he is."

"He gave me blue highlights once when I was getting my wisdom teeth pulled. My mom was so mad, but I liked them."

"Whoa, he does that at work, too? I thought it was only us!"

She grinned. "No, he's gotten everyone at one time or another. My name's Anna, by the way."

"I'm Basil." I introduced myself to a few other people. I met a guy named Arthur who was on the swim team and had blond hair that was turning green from chlorine. I talked to a short guy named Kevin. I also (briefly) had a conversation with a blond girl named Brynn. I don't usually judge from first impressions, but she was kind of a bitch.

The bell rang, and I went to first-period English. I'd heard that Alice in Wonderland was one of the English teachers here, so I was curious to find out if it was true. When I arrived, I found that it was true. 'Miss Glass' had blond hair, blue eyes, and a pretty but pale face. She was slowly writing on the board in big swirly letters.

"Hey, Basil!" called a voice. I looked, and it was Rose.

"Hey, Rose. You have this class too?"

"Yep. Come on, sit over here," she said, gesturing to the seat next to her. I noticed a lot of the guys giving me dirty looks.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad we're both in this class. I heard that the other sophomore English teacher is a complete lunatic. Like, worse than Miss Glass. But—" she looked around to see if Miss Glass was anywhere nearby, and then continued—"Miss Glass is a bit odd, though. She's really sweet and she's a good teacher, but apparently Wonderland has this weird effect on people that messes with your head."

"Well, the caterpillar _was_ smoking a hookah."

"True."

Rose and I continued chatting until the second bell rang, officially beginning class. Miss Glass jumped a little, and giggled like a little girl when she realized that it was just the bell.

"Good Morning!" she said in a singsong voice. "My name is Miss Glass, and welcome to sophomore English." She went on, explaining how this year, we would be studying classical literature and its influence on modern times. She handed out textbooks and had us all introduce ourselves. Most people already knew each other, and I was the only exception. I didn't really mind, but it was weird having everyone stare at me. Back in the city, it took a lot to get stared at. Sure, a new student would get some second looks, but not this much.

Overall, Miss Glass was a pretty good teacher, but I got the feeling that she'd be one of those overenthusiastic types that get really, really caught up in the story. She also seemed to have a thing for fantasy books. And rainbows.

My next class was Health. Rose was in that class, too. Before we went into the class, Rose whispered to me, "I probably should warn you about Mrs. Fett. She's a drug dealer."

"_What_?"

"Yeah."

"How do you know this?"

She shrugged. "She has a criminal record. I read about her in my dad's files." I remembered how she'd told me that her family kept files on everyone in town. I thought it was a little creepy then. I still think it's creepy, but I realize now that it's kind of necessary. I also realize that Rose is unnaturally curious.

"Then why is she a health teacher?" I asked.

"Because of budget cuts. It was either cut the funding for a certified health teacher, or cut the funding for the teachers' coffee supply. The principal was going to cut the coffee, but then he realized that no teacher would ever work here unless they provided coffee."

"That's kind of stupid."

"It was, but the good thing is, she doesn't assign any homework."

"Oh. Well, I guess that's okay." Well, I guess that just because she sold drugs, it didn't necessarily mean that she would sell them to us.

The class itself was fairly ordinary. Mrs. Fett, an unnaturally orange, unnaturally blonde woman, had us all introduce ourselves. She gave out textbooks and sat us in alphabetical order. She didn't seem at all like what you'd expect a drug dealer to be, but I guess most don't.

I had Geometry after Health. I sat next to this guy called Bryce Wilkerson. I think that he may be the stupidest person that I have ever met. But he was really big, like 6'7". He's probably had to repeat the grade a few times. When the teacher, Mr. Rollins, asked him if he knew the name of an eight sided figure, he said, "You mean like a figure 8? I think it's an ice skating move."

"No, I mean the shape, Bryce."

"A cube?"

"Cubes are three dimensional figures, Bryce. They have six sides."

"Like a dice?"

Mr. Rollins sighed. "A dice _is_ a cube."

"So I was right, then!" The sad part was, he was serious.

The day went on. I think my Spanish teacher is an Everafter, although I'm not sure which one. I know that the Physics teacher, Ms. Pevensie, is actually Susan from The Chronicles of Narnia, but Daniella and Robert told me that she has no memory of Narnia and doesn't actually know why she's an Everafter. I felt sorry for her. To be immortal and alone without knowing why must be depressing.

..~0~..

When I got home, no one was there, which I thought was strange. There was a note on the kitchen table. It said,

_Basil,_

_If we aren't back by 1:00 AM, stir the cauldron in the mirror four times counterclockwise and seven times clockwise, then jab it three times. We are out looking for some potion ingredients and will be back later. DO NOT DO ANYTHING STUPID. DO NOT STIR THE CAULDRON BEFORE 1AM. And whatever you do, don't go into the empty lot behind that abandoned farmhouse on Baker Street and pick up the glass jars with the blue glowing liquid._

_From: Sabrina, Puck, Daphne, and Red_

Hmm. Where was Mr. Canis, then? Maybe he just forgot to sign the note? I doubted it. But the part that really bothered me was that bit about Baker Street.

..~0~..

End of Chapter

Authors' Note: **Sorry we couldn't update last week. Cerulean got a tattoo. **_It's airbrush! _**Still. **

Lea and Cal Read Reviews

RockSuperstar: _We don't intend on abandoning this. The hiatus was only because our computer was _**pretty much dead for months on end. **_But we're back now. And no, the key thing's not completely new. _**It's part of Harry Houdini's Seven Escapes From Ferryport Landing.**

anon: _Sabrina and Daphne are actually experiencing a lot more than Basil lets on. They're not telling him the whole story. _**It really did feel like a teen romance. I mean, a guy you haven't seen in five years? How do you know he's still the same guy, personality-wise?**

Puckabrina-FAXfan: _I really wanted Sabrina to go into war and kick some ass, but I guess with her being twelve years old and all, she would've seemed like a Mary Sue. _**Glad you're liking it so far. We try to make it likeable.**

emowriter: _I had no idea there was a Daphne-ish dictionary!_** As soon as we get the chance to find all our Daphne-ish words, we'll do that.**

14: The Mortal Instruments? _I've definitely heard of that. I think it was the series that my friend from soccer was telling me about at our last soccer campout. _**Writing with a sister actually**—_wow, I can't wait to hear this—_**is a good thing. **_Wait, what? _**You can yell at them about things you can't tell a friend, and you can nag them about updating. See, with a friend you always have to worry about hurting their feelings. **_It's almost impossible for either one of us to hurt the other's feelings, but if we do, we forgive. _**But I hold grudges**_. We'll quote the Simpsons now: _

Lisa: But I just feel so… angry!

Marge: You're a woman. You can hold onto it forever.

**Thank you for commenting about my blog. And Bellatrix is just as angry as ever. She bit me the other day. **_Also, we're teenagers. I'm 18 months older._

SweetShireen: _I think humor is a really important part of a book. Even Shakespeare understood the need for comic relief. _**Stephenie Meyer does not. **_Actually, if you read the __Taming of the Shrew, __which you will probably have to read in school, you'll learn that Shakespeare had one heck of a dirty mind. _**We used to PM reviewers, **_and we still do for oneshots, _**and I do it when I write alone, **_but we reply here because of all the anonymous reviewers. _**Also, you can't use Bold and Italics when you PM. In this way, we can use our comedy dynamic better. **_But you can totally feel free to PM us._


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